


Ad Hominem

by resonae



Category: ATEEZ (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Angst, Bad Decisions, M/M, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-11-18 04:04:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18112907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/resonae/pseuds/resonae
Summary: Wooyoung wasn't supposed to fall in love with Taehyung, not when they were using each other as placeholders for the ones they were actually pining for. But sometimes the world has other plans.





	1. Chapter 1

Wooyoung had no idea what was going on. He stared at the three empty beer cans on the table in the karaoke room and tried once again to make sense of what was going on. He glanced at the other in the room, who was on his fourth can of beer.

 

Kim Taehyung, one of BTS’s most popular members.

 

Taehyung had just grabbed him out of nowhere after Inkigayo and smiled sweetly up at their manager. _Does ATEEZ have anything scheduled for tomorrow? Can I pleaseeee borrow Wooyoung? I’ve been trying to get him to hang out with me for ages, but he kept telling me he was busy._

 

Their manager, of course, had been dumbstruck by the fact that a BTS member was trying to hang out with Wooyoung and had given him permission right away, hissing to Wooyoung, _Build a firm connection!_

 

Taehyung had never tried to contact Wooyoung. Taehyung didn’t even have Wooyoung’s number. They’d barely even talked, and all of that talking was greeting during music shows. And now Taehyung had brought him to a karaoke, where he’d said nothing for the past half hour and done nothing except blast instrumentals of random songs and drink beer.

 

Wooyoung looked up when he heard a familiar instrumental. The screen let him know what he’d already figured – ATEEZ’ Promise. Taehyung tossed a mic at him. “Sing.”  


“Ex..excuse me?”

 

Taehyung finished his fourth can and opened a 5th. “Sing, I said.” Taehyung said, raising an eyebrow.

 

Wooyoung blinked, wide eyed as Taehyung just jerked his chin at him. He gripped the mic and stuttered, “I-I don’t understand.”

 

“Are you dumb? I said, sing. I want to hear you sing.”

 

“No, I mean why.” Wooyoung bit his lip. He didn’t think he could usually stand up to someone like Taehyung, who was so many years his senior both in age and debut date, but he found himself gripping at his jeans. “You can’t just – bring me to a random place and expect me to sing for you just because you’re my _sunbae_. If you want to make me sing just so you can laugh at me about how bad I am, then-”

 

Taehyung suddenly started laughing. Wooyoung stopped mid sentence, blinking his eyes to try to figure out which part of what he’d said was so funny. But something about the laughter made his heart ache, like the loudness was trying to hide the pain underneath. “Is this a joke?” Taehyung muttered, and Wooyoung frowned. Taehyung downed the beer and cracked open a 6th. “You’re so much like him.”

 

Wooyoung’s frown wiped off his face, and instead was replaced by bemusement. “…Him?”

 

“You can sing. I know you can. You've got my favorite voice in ATEEZ.”

 

Wooyoung ducked his head. “You’ve got the wrong person. You’re looking for Jongho or San. They’re much better singers than I am.”

 

Taehyung stared and punched another code into the karaoke machine, again and again. Wooyoung glanced up at the screen to see he was inputting Promise, over and over again. “Name: Jung Wooyoung. Born November 26th, 1999. Second youngest in the group. Used to be a trainee at our label. I remember seeing you around.” Taehyung sipped the 6th can slowly. “A little loud and annoying, but incredibly endearing. Just like someone else I know. Very good at a lot of things, including being captivating on stage, which is why you usually snag all of ATEEZ’s killing parts.” Taehyung stood, and even though he’d downed the cans of beer, he didn’t seem drunk. “PD-nim made the wrong call letting you go.”

 

He plopped down by Wooyoung’s side and a corner of his lips quirked up in a smirk. Taehyung was confident when he said, “Hopelessly, desperately, passionately in love with San. Don’t try to deny it. I see how you look at him. It’s the same way I look when I think about mine.”

  
Wooyoung stared and tried to come up with a retort. He failed and instead ended up grabbing the mic harder in his hands.

 

Taehyung smirked, downing the rest of the 6th can. “Sing.”

 

And so Wooyoung did.

 

\--

 

He’d expected Taehyung to get him drunk, to get his tongue loose, but Taehyung kept the alcohol consumption strictly to himself. And he seemed fine, even as the beer bottles kept piling up. Wooyoung had sung Promise more times than he could count, and when the song was finally over and he was left with a silence in the room. “Your throat okay?” Taehyung asked, not a single slur detectable in his words.

 

Wooyoung nodded, suddenly feeling embarrassed. Taehyung chuckled at his obvious embarrassment and leaned back. Wooyoung gripped the mic harder. “Why did you bring me here?”

 

Taehyung shook the can of beer, humming lightly. “Go out with me.”

 

Wooyoung dropped his mic in shock. “What?”

 

“You heard me right. Date me.” Taehyung’s eyes bore into his, pools of black calmer and more sincere than Wooyoung could have thought. “You won’t ever get San. He’s straight. You can pretend I’m San, and I’ll pretend you’re _him_. You don’t exactly look like him, and I don’t look like him, but we’ll make do. It’s what destructive people like us do best.”

 

“You’re drunk.” Wooyoung whispered, voice trembling.

 

“Am I?” Taehyung smirked, and Wooyoung thought the answer was no. “I can hold more alcohol than you think. Runs in the family.” Taehyung took a swig of beer and pulled Wooyoung close, pressing their lips together. Wooyoung cried out in surprise, trying to push Taehyung away, but Taehyung grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking it back and spilling the beer from his mouth into Wooyoung’s.

 

Wooyoung managed to shove him away, coughing and spluttering. His hand went up and out before he could stop it, punching Taehyung hard on the cheek in reflex. He blinked, stunned at himself, and bit back the apology that automatically bubbled up, because Taehyung didn’t deserve it. He tried to control the coughing and glared, angrily wiping at his mouth.

 

“Ow,” Taehyung smirked, rubbing at his cheek. “You’re not supposed to hit my face. I make money off of this, you know.”

 

Wooyoung snapped, “Well, maybe you shouldn’t have done what you just did.” He stood to grab his jacket. “I’m leaving.”

 

Taehyung grabbed him and pulled him back onto the couch. “You haven’t given me a reply.”

 

“And you’re not getting one.” Wooyoung managed to yank his arm back and stalked out before Taehyung could stop him again.

 

\--

 

Inevitably, he hadn’t thought about how to get back. He had nothing but his phone on him and a few bills stuffed into his pocket from ATEEZ’s latest midnight snack grab, which was definitely not enough for him to go back on a taxi.

 

“Having problems?”

 

He refused to turn at the smug voice and instead started punching an address into his phone. He had to find the nearest station and hopefully catch a subway before the last one. He’d walk whatever distance because he knew the busses were no longer running. The nearest subway wasn’t far, but he didn’t have much time before he’d miss the last train. Even with that train, he highly doubted he was going to be able to transfer, meaning he’d have to walk a long, long way.

 

Wooyoung shoved his phone back into his pocket and started briskly walking away. Taehyung let out an exasperated huff but didn’t stop him – instead, he started walking alongside Wooyoung, keeping up with his pace. Wooyoung ignored him and Taehyung said nothing, even as Wooyoung bought a new subway pass and filled it up. Taehyung sat next to him on the subway and got off the transfer stop. “Great,” Wooyoung muttered, sighing at the shuttered passageways.

 

“Will you acknowledge my presence now and just let me pay for your taxi? I’m just glad no one takes the last train, or we would have had billion pictures uploaded on the internet. Not that we were doing anything weird, I guess.” Taehyung finally spoke up once Wooyoung pulled his phone out again when they were outside. “It’s 2 in the morning. You’re going to get mugged.”

 

For a moment, Wooyoung was blindsided by how _different_ Taehyung seemed, and then it hit him. No matter what, they were in public. Taehyung, as one of the most popular members of the biggest group in K-pop right now, couldn’t afford to be the dick he’d been to Wooyoung while they were in private. Professional indeed, Wooyoung thought bitterly. “Just – go away.” Wooyoung shot, gripping his phone. "I can make my way back home.”

 

"How far away do you live?" That made Wooyoung pause, because he lived far. Pretty damn far. But he was _not_ going to take money from Taehyung for a taxi fare. He just wasn’t. So he started walking, ignoring Wooyoung's exasperated sigh. Taehyung followed him, and Wooyoung kept ignoring him.

 

He was pretty determined to walk the rest of the way, and he figured Taehyung was going to get sick of walking so far soon. But Taehyung didn’t. He didn’t complain even a little as Wooyoung walked, carefully checking his phone to make sure he was going the right way. He thankfully had a full battery because he charged his phone wherever he went, and the only problem was that he was getting pretty damned sleepy.

 

He walked for about an hour when his phone started vibrating. It was Yunho, and his face brightened as he picked it up right away. "Yunho!"

 

[Wooyoung, are you almost done? I'm about to go home now. You didn't take your wallet, right? Want me to go pick you up?]

 

He was about to say _oh god yes_ , but then Taehyung snatched the phone from his hands. "He's in good hands," Taehyung said, voice smooth, and Wooyoung's jaw dropped when he heard Yunho say _Uhm. Okay, then._ He was furious. He snatched his phone from Taehyung’s hands and shoved it back into his pocket. He’d call Yunho again, when Taehyung gave up and stopped following him, but he was _not_ going to take Taehyung’s help. He didn’t care if he ended up walking the entire fucking way home.

 

About an hour of silent walking later, Taehyung grabbed his wrist. “Are you _seriously_ going to walk the entire way? Your dorm’s on the other side of Seoul, right? You realize we’ve got like an hour left to walk? It’s 4 in the morning. Buses are gonna start running, so we might as well-“

 

Wooyoung threw his arm off and kept walking. His entire body hurt and he was going to have to spend his day off sleeping. He was just so _angry_. Yeosang always told him he was easy to take advantage of because he was too nice, but he didn’t think he looked like a pushover, especially to someone who didn’t even know. He turned, eyes filled with angry tears. “Do you think you can just – just _mess_ with me however you want? I know you’re my _sunbae_ , and fine, now you know I like San. You can’t just abuse me like this. Do you get a kick out of making fun of me?”

 

Taehyung blinked. “What? I’m not making fun of you. I’ve been trying to get you home.”

 

“And I told you I didn’t want your help! Why are you following me? Go home. You have your wallet. Go back to your dorm.”

 

Taehyung stared at him for a while, and then shrugged. “Listen, you’ve got it the wrong way. I’m not trying to tease you or mess with you. I was the one who brought you out here, and I kept you late on purpose. I didn’t think you’d insist on walking home all the way, but in the end I’m still responsible. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

 

“I’m not helpless,” Wooyoung bristled. “ _You’re_ the one who downed 6 cans of beer.”

 

“I’m sober. We’ve been walking for over 2 hours. Even if I’d been drunk, I’d be sober by now. And I’m not implying you’re helpless. Two’s safer than one, that’s all. And you’re kind of small.” Taehyung shrugged. “Keep going. I’ll walk you right to the entrance of your dorm and then take the taxi back. Pretend I’m not here. You’ve been doing well at that.”

 

Wooyoung stared, a little dumbfounded after that, but he refused to feel anything akin to gratitude. He kept marching on, and a little over an hour later when the sun was starting to peek out from the horizon, he dragged his tired legs up the front steps to the apartment. He turned to see Taehyung leaning on the edge, looking tired himself. “..Are you busy today?” How likely was it that BTS didn’t have _anything_ scheduled on any day?

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “What, you wanna try a second date?” There was a smirk forming on his lips but Wooyoung ignored it.

 

“No. If you don’t have anything, come up and sleep in our dorm. You look like you’ll pass out.” Wooyoung didn’t say anything after that, but he heard Taehyung’s footsteps right behind his. He punched the code in and Taehyung followed quietly. “Don’t judge. We haven’t really made anything for our label yet.”

 

“I’m not judging.” Taehyung only shrugged. “Can I use your shower?”

 

Wooyoung nodded and quietly slipped into their clothing room to take out a pair of sweatpants and a clean shirt. Taehyung was done by the time Wooyoung had wiped his (now gross) makeup off, and Wooyoung offered him the clean clothes while he slipped in and took a quick shower himself. “Don’t go into any of the rooms. They’re probably asleep, and I don’t want you to wake them up. Everyone barely gets any sleep - Yunho!” Wooyoung’s eyes widened when the door slipped open.

 

Yunho glanced at Taehyung, and Taehyung frowned. “You brought a guest?” His voice was low with sleep, and Wooyoung’s hand came up to rest on Yunho’s elbow.

 

“Oh. He walked me home. We walked for like three hours and-“  


“You walked for _three hours_?” Yunho repeated, suddenly looking very alert. He scowled and glanced at Taehyung. “You were supposed to be in good hands.” That was a jab if Taehyung had ever heard, but Wooyoung just shushed Yunho and managed to coax him back into the room.

 

Taehyung soon heard the water running and decided to look around. The dorm wasn’t very big – he wasn’t certain how 8 grown men were living in it, but ATEEZ seemed to be managing fine. He looked around the tiny living area. It reminded him of BTS’ earlier debut days and he found himself being strangely nostalgic. He never thought he would miss the shithole that was BTS’ first dorm.

 

He turned when a hand stuck out over his shoulder to grab a water bottle from the shelf. San was pouring himself a cup of water, but when he saw Taehyung he coughed and choked on the water. “Whoa, you okay?” Taehyung quickly shut the fridge door.

 

“What – Huh?” San gulped. “I must be asleep…” He blinked at Taehyung and then shook his head. He blinked at Taehyung again, rubbed his eyes, pinched his arm, and then looked at him again.

 

“San, stop.” Wooyoung’s voice sounded tired. “You’re not dreaming.” He was toweling his hair dry and San turned to him with wide eyes. “Do you think you can grab me some of the extra blankets? I’ll set him up in the closet room.”

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “You’re banishing me to your closet?”

 

Wooyoung shrugged. “It’s big. I’d give you my bed instead, but I think you’d be more comfortable on your own. Plus, I don’t want to wake Yeosang up. And sometimes he snores. Or sleep talks.”

 

Taehyung snickered. “BTS members do that, too. I’m fine with the snoring and sleep talking.”

 

San grinned. “Then you can take my bed. And I’ll sleep with Wooyoung in his. My room’s in there.”

 

Before either Taehyung or Wooyoung could respond, San had grabbed Wooyoung’s wrist and tugged him to the room. He turned to grin at Taehyung and Taehyung watched the door close with light frown. He sighed and quietly opened the door that San had pointed out

 

Taehyung thought he could here a bit of whispering through the walls, but he was too tired to try to make sense of it. He turned so he was facing the wall and let himself be lulled to sleep.

 

He woke up next morning to the sun shining in his face. He grumbled and threw the pillow over his face and then startled when he realized it wasn’t his own. He blinked it and remembered where he was. His phone was still in his pocket that Wooyoung had folded up and left on the couch, if he remembered correctly, but his entire body refused to move.

 

Apparently, walking for 3 hours straight in the frigid spring night cold was not a good idea. He turned over and found the other member (Yunho, his brain supplied) still on his bed, on his stomach. “Hey, sunbaenim.” Yunho cocked an eyebrow at him. “Morning. You got like, fifty thousand calls. We put your phone on the charger. Hongjoong-hyung ran to the convenience store to get you one of those one-use toothbrushes. It’s in the bathroom. I hope you aren’t hungry because you’re going to have to wait a bit. Mingi and San went to grab something to eat. Usually we’d cook something, but..”

 

Taehyung sat up. “But?”

 

“Oh. You didn’t wake up? I guess you were more tired than I thought. Wooyoung got super, super sick. He threw up all night. Got a fever.” Yunho frowned lightly. “He was kind of sick to begin with yesterday. Where did you guys walk from?”

 

Taehyung sat up. “..Incheon.”

 

Yunho’s eyes widened. “In- _Incheon_? That must’ve been _hours_! I – how come you didn’t just take a cab?”

 

“We kind of… fought. And then he refused to take my money when I told him I’d pay for his cab.”

 

Yunho stared at him for a while, and then sighed, running a hand through his hair. “..Sounds like him. He gets stubborn about stupid things.” He got up off the bed and opened the door, and looked back at Taehyung. Taehyung got off the bed and followed.

 

“Morning, sunbaenim.” Jongho said, eyes wide and jumping up from the corner of the living room. “Uh.. Hongjoong-hyung’s went back to the pharmacy with Seonghwa-hyung. They’ll be back soon. Mingi-hyung and San-hyung went to go get some food.”

 

Taehyung shrugged. “Can I use the bathroom?” Jongho nodded and Taehyung slipped into the bathroom. There were a bunch of toothbrushes, but for some reason there’d only been one shampoo and body wash. BTS all had their own shampoo and body wash, but it looked like ATEEZ shared. He wondered what determined who bought the next bottle. He grabbed the toothbrush that was still in its wrapper and tore it out, squeezing the tiny toothpaste it came with onto the brush.

 

When he came back out the manager was there, looking like he didn’t quite know what to do. “I can drive you back to your dorm.”

 

"...No, I can take the bus, or a cab. It’s not far. But.. you're all going out? I thought you guys didn't have anything today?”

 

Hongjoong’s face was unreadable, but Taehyung thought he could see hints of annoyance. “..Apparently we had practice scheduled today.” There was a glance at their manager, who was frowning, and Taehyung snorted inwardly. Common enough. Managers who scheduled practices on their days of and didn’t say anything about it until the day of.

 

Taehyung then frowned. “What about Wooyoung?”

 

Hongjoong sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “We’ve told him and we’re leaving his phone right next to him so he can call if something gets really bad.”

 

Taehyung looked up into the door that Hongjoong nodded toward. San was on the floor next to the bed, looking concerned. He looked like he was saying something. “..I can stay.”

 

Hongjoong’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Yunho spoke up to say, “There’s no need. I was going to come back every few hours to check on him.” Taehyung’s eyes slid to the tall idol. Yunho had his arms crossed in front of his chest, and Taehyung recognized that look.

 

..Ah.

 

Yunho’s look changed into a scowl at the expression on Taehyung’s face. Hongjoong coaxed Yunho out of it, reasoning that with a fever that high, something could happen to Wooyoung while they were all out. San reluctantly got up from the side of the bed at their manager’s annoyed call. Yunho lingered last, and turned before he left. “…Don’t think that I don’t know you caused this.”

 

Taehyung crossed his arms across his chest. “..Does he know you like him?”

 

Yunho’s response wasn’t what he’d expected. He’d expected surprise and fluster, but Yunho just stared at him. "Of course he does. This isn't some kind of drama." Yunho snorted. "And I know he likes San. San's not an idiot, either. He cares a lot about Wooyoung, even if he doesn’t swing that way. The 8 of us have a bond that you can't understand."  He paused, and then there was a spark in his eyes that made Taehyung flinch. "I don’t expect you to get it.”

 

Taehyung glared, but before he could say anything else, Yunho swerved on his heels and slammed the door behind him. Taehyung just turned and made his way back to Wooyoung. San had put a wet towel over his forehead and water droplets were scrolling down the sides of Wooyoung’s head and making dark circles on to the pillow. He took the now-warmed towel and gently dabbed at the beads of cold sweat forming on Wooyoung’s forehead and nose.

 

“Who’s your person?” Wooyoung’s voice was raspy and his eyes were still closed. When Taehyung frowned and didn’t answer, he peeked an eye open. “It’s unfair that you know and I don’t.”

 

Taehyung snorted. “That’s not for you to know.” He got up to dump out the water that someone (San, probably) had brought in a large bowl, wash the rag, and fill it up with cool, clean water again. Wooyoung was sitting up when he came back, and he looked a little lost, although Taehyung didn’t know if that was because he wasn’t feeling well.

 

Wooyoung didn’t protest or move when Taehyung sat back down and started patting him down again. “We should do it,” Wooyoung said, and Taehyung stopped. Wooyoung turned his head to look up at Taehyung a bit, and he looked defeated. “Make bad choices. It’s what people like us do best, right?”


	2. Chapter 2

Wooyoung stared at his phone. Taehyung had made him change his phone background to him, and now every time he opened up his phone, a very HQ photo of Taehyung making a seducing face at a fansign greeted Wooyoung. Taehyung wasn’t even Wooyoung’s BTS bias.

 

He’d mentioned it to Taehyung, who’d frowned, tapped Wooyoung’s phone screen, and said, _too bad_. So Wooyoung ended up with photo of Taehyung he could honestly do without. He hadn’t told the other members about how Taehyung and he had decided to start this dating thing. He was pretty certain Hongjoong have a stroke. In fact, later down the road if someone asked him what the biggest mistake of his life was, he was pretty certainly going to say ‘dating a guy I barely know after he downed six cans of beer and made me sing one song for hours.’

 

Wooyoung buried his head in his hands and bounced his forehead on his knees. He was making a bad mistake. He just knew it. And everyone noticed how he could barely focus anymore. He wasn’t making mistakes on stage, but he was making mistakes during practice and frustrating everyone.

 

“Uh, Wooyoung.”

 

Wooyoung looked up at Seonghwa’s voice. Seonghwa was standing at the door to their waiting room, and he looked flustered. “Yeah, hyung.”

 

“There’s someone here to see you.”

 

Taehyung, probably, he thought, but when he craned his neck, he saw it wasn’t Taehyung but instead the oldest member of BTS, smiling softly at him. “Hey, you’re Wooyoung, right?” He extended his hand and Wooyoung stared at it for too long until Seonghwa pinched his side. Seokjin laughed when Wooyoung shoved his hand into his handshake, blinking wildly. “I was hoping we could talk?”

 

“Uhm. Sure, yeah. We could do that.” He looked wildly around, maybe for help, but the other members were just gawking. He followed Seokjin out the door. “Sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

 

Seokjin laughed warmly. “That’s okay. I remember what it was like when sunbaes came knocking at our doors.” He winked. “I get it.” He led Wooyoung to the fire escape stairs, which Wooyoung had quickly learned were the getaway for idols. He turned to face Wooyoung, and laughed when he saw Wooyoung’s expression. “Don’t worry;  I’m not going to eat you.” He sat down on the second to last step and patted the place next to him. “Taehyung told us he was dating someone. His phone background changed to you, so I made a guess.”

 

“It would’ve been kind of bad if you made a bad guess.”

 

Seokjin smiled. “You’re right, but it wasn’t the only clue I had. I just wanted to meet the person who he’s dating. He’s a nice kid, really, but sometimes he makes rash decisions…” He leaned back and tapped his fingers on his knee. “But you seem like a good person.”

 

Wooyoung frowned. “You can tell from a conversation that lasted a minute? What if I was trying to use him as leverage to get my group to succeed?”

 

Seokjin winked at him. “I’m pretty good at reading vibes from people. And plus, you just confirmed it. You said ‘my group’ instead of ‘me.’ That already tells me you’re a good guy.” He looked up. “Oh, I know those loud footsteps. That’s Taehyung when he’s-“

 

The fire escape door crashed open to reveal Taehyung.

 

“-Annoyed,” Seokjin finished warmly. “Hey, Taehyung. I just wanted to talk to your baby boy for a bit.”

 

Wooyoung felt his cheeks flush. “I- I’m not – I’m not a _baby_.”

 

Taehyung stalked over and grabbed Seokjin’s wrist, though not roughly. “Did Namjoon-hyung put you up to do this?”

 

Seokjin shrugged. “We were just curious who he was, Taehyung. And I’m the least intimidating. But no, Namjoon didn’t put me up to do this. Not explicitly, anyway.”

 

Taehyung scowled, but Wooyoung noticed his grip on Seokjin’s wrist wasn’t tightening. He pulled Seokjin up and dusted his pants off before mumbling something to him, and Wooyoung got it.

 

Seokjin.

 

 _Seokjin_ was Taehyung’s person. He watched Taehyung grumble a little and Seokjin laugh fondly, tapping Taehyung’s cheek before turning back to Wooyoung. He ruffled Wooyoung’s hair. “You pass. And for the record, you’re 7 years younger than I am, so… Don’t be offended if I call you a baby.”

 

Taehyung ushered Seokjin out and closed the fire escape door behind him, muting Seokjin’s laugh as he said something about giving them alone time. “He’s your person,” Wooyoung blurted.

 

Taehyung ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I guess there’s no point denying it.”

 

“I remind you of _him_?” Wooyoung blinked. “We – we don’t even look alike. Our skillsets are completely different.”

 

Taehyung snorted. “Not in those ways.” He plopped down next to Wooyoung. “Personality wise.” He didn’t say anything more and ran a hand through his hair again. “Just ignore it.” He rested his elbows on the stairs behind him and tilted his head back, and Wooyoung blinked. It was almost unfair how good looking Taehyung was, even like this. Taehyung looked sideways at him. “You know, you could use me. A picture with me, I put it up on our Twitter, and it would blow up.”

 

Wooyoung shoved his hands in his pockets. “That’s not what I want.”

 

Taehyung walked him back to his waiting room – not that it was too long of a walk – but stopped him before he could go in. “Are you free this weekend?”

 

Wooyoung startled. “Why?”

 

Taehyung gave him a look. “We’re dating. I want to take you on a date. I’m not going to be in Korea very long before we go on tour again. Are you free this weekend or not?”

 

“Oh, uh. Yeah. I guess so. Sunday, after Inkigayo.” Wooyoung wrung his hands. “Where?”

 

“I’ll pick you up around 6PM. Should be done by then, right?” He paused. “Wear that red hoodie.” When Wooyoung blinked up at him, Taehyung shrugged. “Looks good on you. Anyway, 6PM, Sunday. I’ll pick you up.” He paused and ruffled Wooyoung’s hair before opening the door to ATEEZ’s waiting room and mock-bowing.

 

Wooyoung watched Taehyung sprint back to his own waiting room, and when he turned back, he was met with 7 blinking gazes. No one said anything until Hongjoong sighed. “Should I be worried, Wooyoung?” Wooyoung shook his head. “..Just be careful, all right?”

 

\--

 

Sunday came faster than he thought it would, and he stared at himself in the mirror. The oversized red hoodie was definitely not something he’d wear on date night. He usually wore it when he wanted to be comfortable, not when he wanted to be cute. He was hoping the black skinny jeans made it a little more presentable.

 

“So you’re actually going to go on the date?”

 

“Holy fuck, San,” Wooyoung jumped and smoothed his bangs out. “How long have you been there?”

 

San stepped closer to Wooyoung and looked disapproving. “When did you and him get so close that you two started dating? His lie to our manager didn’t fool me. That day when you got sick was the first time you two met, and now you’re suddenly dating?”

 

Wooyoung frowned. “It’s not that weird.”

 

San sighed. “Wooyoung, if you’re doing this just to spite me-“

 

“San, not everything is-“

 

“It’s working.”

 

Wooyoung stopped mid-sentence. “..What?”

 

San frowned and scowled at the jeans on Wooyoung’s bed that he’d pulled out. “You heard what I said, Wooyoung.” There was a heavy silence and San cleared his throat, but said nothing else.

 

Wooyoung clenched his fists. “Are you trying to tell me that I should just pine after you?” San’s frown deepened and he started to say something – no doubt to deny the accusation – but Wooyoung just grabbed his phone off the bed. “I’ve got to go, San. Don’t wait up.”

 

He chose to run down the stairs because if he took the elevators, he was completely certain that San would’ve tried to talk to him while he was waiting. Taehyung said he was waiting in the garage, and Wooyoung was breathing hard by the time he had reached the basement floor.

 

“Whoa, that’s not where I expected you to come out of.” Taehyung raised an eyebrow. He was leaning against the wall next to the elevator, holding his phone in one hand and a smoothie in another. He frowned when he saw Wooyoung and Wooyoung was starting to get really sick of people _frowning_ at him. “Hold on,” Taehyung said. “Don’t cry.”

 

“I’m not _crying_.”

 

“Sure you aren’t. Reporters followed me here. They saw you’re a guy so they would’ve backed off for a bit, but if they see you crying, they’ll be taking pictures. And you can bet _BTS’ V makes hoobae cry in parking garage_ makes for a good headline. Come on. Into the car.” Taehyung steered Wooyoung to where he was parked.

 

Wooyoung stared. “ _This_ is your car.”

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I have an expensive car. Don’t tell me you’re surprised? Come on, in. The windows are tinted. They won’t be able to see in.” He opened the door for Wooyoung and Wooyoung hesitated, but sighed and figured he couldn’t back out now. Taehyung shut the door for him and Wooyoung watched Taehyung flit across the front of the car and slip into the driver’s seat. “Now,” Taehyung’s voice was soft. “I’m going to guess someone wasn’t happy you were coming to see me. That’s why you ran down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, because they would’ve followed you, and then looked like you were going to cry the moment you saw me.” Taehyung leaned back and glanced in the back mirror. “Fucking reporters. I’m going to start driving, or they’ll get suspicious. I was thinking movie, but I’m guessing you’re not really feeling up to it.”

 

“No. Can we just.. go somewhere no one else is?”

 

Taehyung smiled. “Fine. I know a pretty good place and I also know how to get rid of these reporters. Not that they’ll really follow us once they figure out it’ll be just us two.”

 

Taehyung didn’t talk to him on the drive, something Wooyoung was thankful for. He also didn’t seem to mind that Wooyoung rolled down the windows and let the wind whip into the car, and just blasted the heater instead. The drive took longer than Wooyoung expected, and when Taehyung stopped, Wooyoung _definitely_ wasn’t expecting it to be an apartment.

 

“Your dorm?”

 

“No, my place.” Taehyung shrugged. “It’s not really out in the news yet. They’re probably waiting to release it later.” He drove smoothly into the parking garage, which scanned his license plate and opened up the gates. “You wanted somewhere no one else is. This is as best as it gets.”

 

The rest of the members would probably flip if they learned he got to go visit a BTS member’s private house. He followed Taehyung to the second set of security gates and up to the apartment. Taehyung’s place had more expensive things than Wooyoung could even imagine having, and Wooyoung wasn’t sure what he could touch or not.

 

“You’re not in a museum, Wooyoung. Relax.” Taehyung kicked his shoes off haphazardly and tossed his jacket off. “The code to the front door is 1107.”

 

Wooyoung startled. “That’s my birthday.”

 

“Yeah. I changed it last week. Want some hot chocolate? I’d offer you coffee but I’m out of K-cups.” Taehyung seemed like he wasn’t really looking for an answer, so Wooyoung instead set to look around the living room. The apartment wasn’t very heavily decorated, which surprised Wooyoung a bit. From Taehyung’s fashion, he wouldn’t have thought Taehyung was really one to go for the sleek, modern minimalist décor. Taehyung had photos of his family hanging on the right side of the TV, and photos of the BTS members hanging on the left.

 

He traced the frame of the one that held a photo of Seokjin. He was smiling brightly at the camera, lit by the sun above, holding a half-eaten ice cream cone in one hand. “It’s a nice picture,” Wooyoung commented when he saw Taehyung come over with two mugs of hot chocolate. He noticed that there were no other members just by themselves, but decided to refrain from commenting. He turned away from it and followed Taehyung to the couch instead. “I’m not sitting on that.”

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

 

“It’s _white_. I’m gonna spill something on it.” Wooyoung wasn’t overly clumsy or anything, but he was _certain_ Murphy’s Law would come into existence if he sat down on that couch with a mug of hot chocolate. He chose to slide down onto the floor in front of it instead and nursed his mug contently. The hot chocolate was good and not at all like the cheap vending machine ones he was used to.

 

He startled when he felt fingers slide through his hair. He looked up, eyes wide, but Taehyung didn’t move his hand from his hair. “Your hair’s fried.”

 

“I really don’t know if you’re the one to talk,” Wooyoung pointed at Taehyung’s own straw-like hair and Taehyung chuckled easily. He’d learned that not even expensive product could really when it came to hair damaged from bleaching. San made fun of him for it all the time, but thinking about San made his heart clench, so he decided to push that thought out of his head. Taehyung kept his hands stroking through his hair, and Wooyoung made himself comfortable on the floor.

 

\--

 

He didn’t realize he’d dozed off until he woke up staring up at a dimly lit ceiling. He immediately became aware that he was tucked into someone’s arms and turned slowly to come face to face with a sleeping Taehyung.

 

He almost squeaked in surprise but kept himself from making too loud of a noise. Up close – almost nose to nose – Taehyung was shockingly good looking. Wooyoung gingerly brought his hands up to slowly push Taehyung’s bangs out of his face. “Wow,” he whispered softly, and then clamped his lips shut. He hadn’t meant to say that. It was scary how good looking Taehyung was. Wooyoung brought his fingers down to outline the sharp curve of Taehyung’s jaw.

 

“That tickles,” Taehyung mumbled and cracked an eye open. “Like what you see?”

 

Wooyoung frowned. “Is it really news that you’re good looking?” Taehyung laughed in response and brought one of his hands up to cup Wooyoung’s. Taehyung’s hands were gigantic compared to Wooyoung’s. Wooyoung didn’t have _small_ hands, but he felt dwarfed in every way compared to Taehyung. “I don’t get it. Why are you doing this?”

 

“Doing what?”

 

“Don’t play dumb. This. If you’re trying to make Seokjin-sunbaenim jealous, I don’t think it’s going to work. He seemed happy you were dating someone.”

 

Taehyung sighed and closed his eyes. “I’m not trying to make him jealous. I know it won’t work. I was just watching music shows and _you_ caught my eye. So I watched more stages. And then I watched videos, and then I realized you were just like me. In love with someone you couldn’t have. I figured misery loves company. And figured why the hell not. Not everything has to make sense. I act on impulse. It makes life fun.” Wooyoung didn’t have a response to that. He just frowned, although not at Taehyung. After a few moments of silence, Taehyung asked, “We might as well talk about why you were crying.”

 

“I wasn’t crying,” Wooyoung said, almost automatically.

  
“You were crying. You were also running down the stairs instead of taking the elevator. I assume someone confronted you about us. And you ran down the stairs because if you waited for the elevator, they would’ve caught up with you and said more things.” Taehyung hummed lightly. “Was it your kid?” When Wooyoung glared, Taehyung rolled his eyes. “San. Was it Choi San?”

 

Wooyoung responded instead, “I’m hungry.”

 

\--

 

They checked the time after that and both balked when the clock read 9:18 PM. They’d been sleeping for over two hours. Almost three. Taehyung had ordered chicken. Lots of chicken.

 

“Are you expecting us to eat through _all_ of this?” Wooyoung asked, once the chicken was delivered. Taehyung had basically ordered one of each flavor. “This has to be enough for at least 10 people.”

 

Taehyung gave him a look. “I know. It’s for you to take home after. Might as well bribe the others with food.”

 

Wooyoung had no response to that. He instead sat down at Taehyung’s dining table, expecting Taehyung to sit across from him, but Taehyung sat down next to him. He startled, but Taehyung didn’t seem fazed. He dragged the nearest box toward them and laughed all of a sudden. “What?” Wooyoung blinked. “What’s so funny?”

 

“You don’t like this flavor, huh?”

 

“Wha- I never said-“

 

“You should see your face.” Taehyung rubbed his thumb on Wooyoung’s jaw and Wooyoung felt his cheeks heat up. “All right, pick one.” Wooyoung hesitated, but Taehyung rested his arm on Wooyoung’s shoulder and started playing with the piercings in Wooyoung’s left ear, so he reached out for the honey barbecue.

 

Taehyung hummed low in his throat. “Good choice.” He let Wooyoung pick the first piece out (Wooyoung chose the drumstick first, but Taehyung didn’t seem to mind) and then picked out a piece for himself. They ate in silence, but Wooyoung found it wasn’t awkward.

 

It wasn’t until they were at the second box that Wooyoung noticed Taehyung was giving him all the drumsticks. He bristled. “You don’t have to baby me.”

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “I’m not babying you. I’m sure you usually don’t get first pick with your members. Being second youngest and all. I don’t really have a preference. You eat what you like.” Wooyoung somehow highly doubted that was the case, but decided not to fight with him on it.

 

They took about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to stack the rest of the boxes into the two plastic bags so Wooyoung could actually carry them. “Your car is going to smell like chicken.”

 

“It’ll air out by the time I drive it next time,” Taehyung shrugged. “Chicken isn’t the worst thing a car can smell like, anyway.” He glanced sideways at Wooyoung at the stop light. “Are you free next week, same time? I want to take you on a proper date.”

 

Wooyoung hugged the plastic bags on his knees. He confessed, “I enjoyed today.”

 

Taehyung glanced at him again and the corners of his lips danced into a smile. “Yeah. Me too.” He reached over with his right hand to ruffle Wooyoung’s hair. “Even if we spent most of it sleeping. But seriously. If you’re free, I’m going to reserve a nice place for dinner. We can watch a movie. You got anything you want to watch?”

 

The rest of the conversation flowed easily, and Wooyoung was surprised by how little it took for the drive back to his dorm. “Hey,” Taehyung hummed. “Take off one of your earrings.”

 

“What?”

 

“When are we going to get to the point where you’re no longer surprised by the things I say or ask you to do?” Taehyung looked amused and he opened his palm. “Here. I’ve got one.” He pointed to his left ear. “Consider it our Day 1 present.”

 

“If you’re counting since the day you asked, it’s been almost a week.”

 

Taehyung laughed. “You little brat. Fine, consider it our early 1-week anniversary present. Mind if I put it on for you?” Wooyoung shrugged in response and stayed still for Taehyung to take off one of the studs he was currently wearing and replace it with the one he was offering. Probably some stupidly expensive brand, he thought, and had to refrain from rolling his eyes. Taehyung ran a finger down the shell of his ear and Wooyoung couldn’t keep the shiver from running down his spine.

 

There was another soft laugh, and Wooyoung felt Taehyung’s hands move from his ear to the back of his neck. Taehyung’s long fingers brushed through Wooyoung’s hair, and before Wooyoung could even think _wow, he’s really close_ , Taehyung had brought their lips together.


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you want me to walk you up?”

 

“No.” Wooyoung was trying his best not to make any eye contact. He was well aware his cheeks were on fire and that Taehyung was grinning. “I need time to cool down. And- and process.”

 

Taehyung ducked his head so he was nose-to-nose with Wooyoung. Wooyoung let out an undignified squawk and flailed backward, his shoulders coming into contact with the car door behind him, but Taehyung reached over and grabbed him before he could hit his head on the window. “Relax.” Taehyung grinned. “I’ll let you go process. And before you start panicking, no reporters would’ve seen us unless they were directly in front of our windshield. Which is impossible. I parked here for a reason.”

 

Wooyoung hadn’t even realized that would’ve been an issue, but when he looked around, he noticed that Taehyung had parked into an alcove where he was right – it would’ve been impossible for them to have been seen unless the reporter was in front of them. Taehyung patted the back of his neck before letting go. Wooyoung cleared his throat. “Thanks.”

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “For kissing you?”

 

“No!” Wooyoung flailed again. Taehyung laughed. “Just. For today.”

 

“There’s no need to thank me. We’re dating.” Taehyung reached over to tap Wooyoung’s nose. “If you’re sure you don’t want me to walk you up, I’ll let you process.”

 

Wooyoung nodded and almost bolted out of the car, almost forgetting the bag of chicken in the process. He waited for Taehyung to pull out of the garage before heading back to the elevator and punching the ‘up’ button. The elevator was thankfully at the garage level and he was thankful no one else got on. “Oh. My. God,” he whispered to himself, sinking down to the ground. His cheeks were burning. His ears were burning. He was sure even his nose was burning and he didn’t even realize a nose could blush.

 

Taehyung had _kissed_ him.

 

As kisses went it was pretty innocent, and he was kind of acting like a schoolgirl with her first kiss, but he couldn’t help it. It was happening. They didn’t even have feelings for each other and Taehyung had kissed him. How would Yunho and San even-

 

San.

 

The thought of San immediately doused his giddiness and replaced the butterflies in his stomach instead with a dreading sense of guilt. He felt like he was cheating on San, which was ridiculous because they weren’t even dating and San didn’t even have feelings for him.

 

The elevator _ding_ ed just in time for his sobering thoughts and he sighed and rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans before stepping out of the elevator and pushing the digits to his apartment. “Hey,” Hongjoong greeted him from the couch, smiling warmly. “Had fun?”

 

“Uh. I have chicken? Sorry I’m late.”

 

“It’s only like 10. You’re not late.” Hongjoong stood. “I’ll call the kids out for the chicken. But I think you and San have things to talk about.”

 

Wooyoung blinked. “Hyung.”

 

“Or rather, I guess I should say San has things he’d like to apologize for.” Hongjoong reached up to ruffle Wooyoung’s hair. “Wooyoung, you and San are best friends. Genuinely best friends. It’s hard to see a friendship as genuine as yours, anywhere, and especially in this industry. I don’t want that going bad because of misunderstandings.” Wooyoung didn’t really know what to say to that, but Hongjoong just smiled and patted his shoulder. “I’ll send San over to your room. Let Yeosang know that there’s chicken.”

 

\--

 

San and Wooyoung sat down in awkward silence, both fidgeting and looking at their hands. Wooyoung could hear the rest of ATEEZ laughing (and probably demolishing the chicken) outside and kind of hoped he could just forget this entire thing and go join them.

 

“I’m sorry,” San said abruptly, breaking the silence. “It wasn’t what I meant, Wooyoung. I wanted to tell you that but you’d run down the stairs and I tried following you but, well.” San gnawed at his lip. “I got down there and your boyfriend was there.”

 

Wooyoung started at that, and then told himself that yes, Taehyung was indeed his boyfriend. “What _did_ you mean, then?”

 

San’s voice was soft. “I just didn’t want you to be hurt.” He quickly added, “It’s not that I think you can’t take care of yourself. It’s just. You’re really important to me, Wooyoung. You’re my best friend. I guess I just didn’t think he was good enough for you.”

 

“Wha- He’s a _BTS member_ , San.”

 

San bristled. “So what. Doesn’t mean he’s a good guy.” He scowled. “He seems like an asshole. Class A jerk. I don’t like him. And you didn’t know him, either! He just showed up out of the blue, made you really sick, and then you two were dating.”

 

“Oh.” Wooyoung found himself grinning despite himself. “You don’t like the fact that he made me sick.”

 

“Congrats, Sherlock,” San grumbled. “I just don’t want to see you hurt.”

 

Wooyoung scooted over in bed and snuggled into San’s side. San wrapped his arm around Wooyoung’s waist and tugged him tighter almost subconsciously. It was nice to be friends again, even if their fight had lasted half a day. The familiar pull at Wooyoung’s heart hurt, but Wooyoung buried his nose in San’s shoulder and willed it to go away.

 

Wooyoung woke up the next morning basically tangled with San. Yeosang looked amused but didn’t point anything out. “We’ve got to leave in like an hour. Get him up and get your ass out of bed, too.”

 

San hugged tighter and pulled Wooyoung’s head to his chest. “Five more minutes.” He muttered into Wooyoug’s ear, and Wooyoung felt his heart skip a beat. He sighed and closed his eyes and snuggled closer to San, much to Yeosang’s audible dismay.

 

\--

 

Taehyung texted _all the time_. Whenever Wooyoung left his phone to either practice, go to rehearsals, perform on music shows, or have fanmeetings, he came back to the KakaoTalk notification that he had 300+ messages.

 

[Don’t you like… have things to do?]

 

[I’m a good messager.]

 

Wooyoung didn’t doubt it. He had just come back from the dry rehearsal stage for a music show and as usual he’d come back to a billion messages. It took him a decent amount of time to actually go through all of it and the only reason it didn’t take forever was because Taehyung sent an abundance of pictures.

 

“Wow, he sends a _lot_ of selfies,” San muttered. Wooyoung was tucked into his side as usual and San was reading Wooyoung’s messages over his shoulder. “What kind of person takes like 20 selfies in under 2 minutes? And sends you every single one even though they look all the same?”

 

“I think he just sends me all the b-cuts to the things he uploads onto their Twitter.” Wooyoung scrolled through the photos of all the things Taehyung was eating. “And his food.”

 

San just hummed and drummed his fingers against Wooyoung’s side. He kept his hand there but turned his attention back to his own phone. Wooyoung shifted so he was more comfortably leaning on San, and San shifted his arm so he was effectively holding Wooyoung to him.

 

Wooyoung didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary – it was something they did every day, after all – but Seonghwa came to sit next to him and gently pulled him off of San. “Wooyoung,” he said gently, “remember that you’re dating someone else now.” Wooyoung blinked at him, and Seonghwa tapped his knee. “I think you and San need to reconsider your boundaries. I know you guys are best friends and being members makes us closer than most other regular friends, but still. If I were Taehyung-sunbaenim, I wouldn’t like it if my boyfriend was basically lying down on top of some other guy.”

 

Wooyoung startled. “Oh,” he looked at San, who looked just as surprised. “I wasn’t – I wasn’t thinking about it like that.”

 

Seonghwa smiled. “I know. You didn’t have any malicious intent and you two are so close that this is natural. But I’m telling you that I think now that you’re in a relationship, you need to be consciously thinking about how you interact with San. And Yunho.”

 

Yunho swiveled from the chair he was sitting on. “Wait, why am I being dragged into this?”

 

“Because you three are _very_ close and sometimes Wooyoung is draped all over you. I’m not telling you guys not to be close or never to touch each other. I’m just telling you guys to be conscious of the fact that one of you are now in a relationship.” Seonghwa squeezed Wooyoung’s hand. “Yeah?”

 

Wooyoung nodded wordlessly and Seonghwa smiled at him before getting back up to talk to Mingi. San awkwardly shifted away and Wooyoung sat on the other end of the couch. “Wait, I hate this,” San muttered, after a few minutes. “I don’t like this at all.” He flopped down instead and rested his head on Wooyoung’s thighs. “People do this, right? This is okay?” He looked so stubbornly at Seonghwa that Seonghwa burst into laughter and just nodded.

 

Wooyoung wasn’t sure what he was feeling.

 

\--

 

Taehyung had _said_ they’d go on a date on Sunday, but he hadn’t mentioned it since then. Wooyoung wasn’t completely certain what was happening, but he wasn’t going to bring it up. He was still trying to sort out through a lot. Way too much.

 

He sighed and dropped his phone on his chest so he could stare up at the ceiling. They were actually dating. Seonghwa was right – no matter what, Wooyoung had agreed to date Taehyung. He hadn’t really thought about it, even when he had hung out at Taehyung’s apartment the night before. He’d kind of thought of it as just that. Hanging out. Until pretty much the end of the night when Taehyung gave him earrings and kissed him.

 

He raised his hand up to touch the earring in question. Yunho had been the first one to notice it and he had given him a very disapproving noise as he examined the stud. They’d then gone online to look up the price. Yunho had said, _hey, if things don’t work out, you can sell it for a pretty good price, at least_.

 

Everyone was stepping around his relationship issue. No one wanted to talk about it. The company had discussed it, he knew, and they must’ve come to the decision that the benefits outweighed the potential detriments, because he hadn’t heard anything from them. The only thing he knew was that Seonghwa and Hongjoong had gotten called in. He remembered Seonghwa angrily snapping, _I’m not going to let Wooyoung get used_ and then had run away before he could hear the rest.

 

He wasn’t used to tiptoeing around the members. He was the one that ran around to all of them, smooched their cheeks all the time and clung onto them like a baby koala. Nowadays it was as if they’d forgotten how to act around him. He hated it.

 

Wooyoung must’ve fallen asleep, because he opened his eyes only because he was uncomfortably warm. He became quickly aware that someone else was on the bed, their arm wrapped under his neck and around his shoulders. “Finally,” whoever it was said, and Wooyoung blinked up to find Taehyung. Taehyung had Wooyoung tucked to his left side and was using the phone with his right hand.

 

“What are you doing in my bed?” Wooyoung said, rather intelligently.

 

Taehyung looked amused. “We were supposed to be on a date today. You didn’t respond to any of my texts so I got worried and came over. Jongho told me you were asleep, so here I am.”

 

Wooyoung bristled. “We never talked about it over the week so I thought maybe we weren’t going to. You never gave me a time or where to go.”

 

Taehyung raised an eyebrow. “I thought same time, and that I was picking you up. Plus, you could have suggested things yourself, you know.” He was, Wooyoung realized, stroking his fingers through Wooyoung’s hair, long fingers playing at the shorter hairs in the back.

 

“Oh.” Wooyoung’s brows furrowed. “I mean. You’re always busy. I didn’t know.” It honestly hadn’t really occurred to him, but he had no idea when he could even ask Taehyung. BTS was always going out of the country or doing something else even if they were in the country.

 

Taehyung shrugged. “Fine, I’ll concede on that. I got a pretty cute picture, anyway.” He turned his phone over to show Wooyoung and Wooyoung felt his cheeks burn. It was a photo of him sleeping, mouth slightly open but (thankfully) not drooling. “I didn’t take any more, I promise. We still got time to get something to eat. Wanna get something?” Wooyoung must have made a face because Taehyung tapped his nose. “I like that everything you’re thinking of shows on your face. We can stay inside.” He reached around with the arm holding Wooyoung so Wooyoung got tugged even closer. Wooyoung remembered he was getting incredibly warm, but realized he didn’t really want to move. “Chicken’s always a good choice, I guess… Jjajangmyun? How about that?”

 

Wooyoung ended up just dictating whatever the members usually liked eating, still in a strangely comfortable position. Taehyung didn’t let him go even after they were done ordering and instead proceeded to take selfies. “Wait-“ Wooyoung spluttered, hands shooting up to defend himself. “I’ve got no make up on!”

 

“It’s okay, you look cute.” Taehyung snickered. “Plus, they’re just for my own keeping. I won’t post them.” He gently tugged Wooyoung’s hands down and pressed their cheeks together before snapping another selfie. Wooyoung had to admit it looked pretty cute and he sent himself a copy through Taehyung’s KakaoTalk. Taehyung seemed satisfied with keeping Wooyoung tucked into his side as Wooyoung played the games on his phone, and that was how Mingi found them when he came in, looking confused, to tell them the food was here.

 

\--

 

Taehyung bought him a lot of stuff. A _lot_ of stuff. Every time he went overseas, which was pretty often, Taehyung had boxes of presents for him. Wooyoung was running out of space in their tiny dorm, and when he told Taehyung this, Taehyung bought him a book on efficient storage.

 

“So does this make you my sugar daddy?”

 

Taehyung had laughed at that, but then, the next trip, had brought him even _more_ things. Taehyung seemed to take some sort of pride in seeing Wooyoung wear the clothes and accessories he bought him, especially when they ended up being stage outfits. He opened the clothes up for all the ATEEZ members, fully recognizing that there was no way that Wooyoung could even try to wear everything even if he tried. But one thing that Wooyoung never took off was the first earring that Taehyung had given him.

 

Taehyung liked playing with his ear whenever they were just snuggling together, whether it be on a couch or on a bed, and Wooyoung didn’t miss the soft smile every time Taehyung’s fingers brushed against the stud.

 

After the first few weeks, they couldn’t meet up as often – Taehyung got caught up in various overseas schedules and Wooyoung had his own practice. “How’s the dating?” Yunho asked, during practice break when they were both panting and trying to catch a breath leaning against the fogged glass of the practice room. “You haven’t been really seeing him recently, huh?”

 

Wooyoung shrugged. “We’re kind of both really busy.”

 

Yunho nodded and followed Wooyoung’s gaze to San on the other side of the practice room, talking to Mingi. He rubbed his forehead. “I meant to talk to you about this.” Wooyoung glanced back at him. “You two started dating for unhealthy reasons, right? Don’t deny it; I was there and I know you’ve had feelings for San for about as long as I’ve had feelings for you.”

 

“Yunho, I-“

 

Yunho cut him off with a shake of his head. “We’re not doing that right now, Wooyoung, don’t worry. I want to talk about what _you’re_ doing. Honestly I thought it was this was going to be a friends for benefits thing, even if as emotional crutches instead of physical things, but you’re… I think you’re starting to develop real feelings for him.”

 

Wooyoung pressed his cheek to the back of his hands in an attempt to cool them down. “I don’t know,” He whispered, and he really didn’t.

 

Yunho looked worried and he sighed. “Remember why you guys started, Wooyoung. Because he saw someone else in you. I’m worried about you.”

 

 _Me, too_ , Wooyoung thought, but didn’t say it out loud.

 

\--

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Huh?”

 

Taehyung tugged Wooyoung closer – even though it wasn’t physically possible – and pressed their foreheads together. Wooyoung couldn’t keep his heart from beating about a mile per minute when they were so close, but he didn’t try to pull back. “You’ve been thinking about something and it’s been worrying you all night. What’s wrong?”

 

Wooyoung placed his palms on Taehyung’s chest and tried to push away, but Taehyung frowned and held on. “I think,” Wooyoung said, and he was surprised by how much his voice shook. Taehyung seemed to notice to and his frown deepened. “I think,” Wooyoung said, clearing his throat in an attempt to stabilize his voice, “we should stop this.”

 

There was no answer for a while and Wooyoung was afraid to say anything. He was shaking, he realized, and he tried to push away again.

 

Taehyung didn’t let go. “What brought this about?”  Wooyoung couldn’t read the emotion in Taehyung’s voice or his eyes. It scared him. “Is the label putting you up to this? Is it your members?”

 

“No!” Wooyoung answered, a little too loudly. Taehyung’s eyes narrowed. “No, it’s really not that. I just. I just.” He squeezed his eyes shut and whispered, “I think I’m starting to have feelings for you.”

 

Silence answered him. Wooyoung swallowed thickly and tried to push away again, but Taehyung refused to let go. “So why would you want to end this?” Taehyung wondered softly. “Don’t you want to stay with me, then?”

 

“I don’t want to be in a relationship where I’m pining after you while you’re in love with someone else,” Wooyoung whispered. “You can’t ask me to continue that.” He realized he was close to tears so he tried to push back again, but Taehyung wouldn’t let him go. “Why won’t you let me go?”

 

Taehyung’s arms loosened, but he brought his hands instead to cup Wooyoung’s cheeks. “Maybe I’m in the same situation.”

 

“Wha- Don’t just say things-“

 

Taehyung sighed and tugged both of them up so they were sitting. He patted down the mess that was probably Wooyoung’s hair. He smiled a little exasperatedly and thumbed the tears away that Wooyoung didn’t even know he was crying. “I’m not just saying things. I promise. Lately all I can do is think about you. I buy you so much stuff overseas because I see it and all I can think is how it’s going to look on you. I look at chicken flavors and think about how you don’t like certain ones and how you go for the drumsticks first. I sit at restaurants and order fries even when I’m not with you because you like fries better than the burger, which, by the way, is ridiculous. I have like 10 bags of honey butter chips in my car just so you can have a bag to go through whenever you’re in it, and then 10 more at home because I like watching you eat it when you watch TV.”

 

Wooyoung swallowed thickly. “That… is a lot to unpack.” He let Taehyung rearrange themselves on the bed so he was sitting basically on top of Taehyung’s lap. “You know, you were a really giant jerk when I first met you.”

 

Taehyung winced. “Yeah, that wasn’t one of my finest moments.” He hummed and drummed his fingers against Wooyoung’s tailbone. “That was the day Seokjin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung told us officially that they were dating.” He must have felt Wooyoung stiffen because his hand came up to stroke Wooyoung’s back. “I’m telling you this now because it doesn’t matter anymore. And because I don’t want to hide anything from you. This isn’t some ploy to make you feel bad.” He leaned forward and pulled Wooyoung close to kiss him softly. “I like you, Jung Wooyoung. Let’s do this dating thing for real."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note rating change.

Wooyoung ended up sleeping over that night (with permission from his manager). Taehyung gave him a new pair of boxers and a new toothbrush from his cabinet.

 

“Why don’t we just get a 1-use one from the convenience store? You don’t have to waste a new toothbrush.”

 

Taehyung shrugged. “You can use it every time you stay over.” He grinned. “You know, it’s one thing to see you in clothes I buy you, and another to see you in my clothes. I like it.” Taehyung tugged him forward so Wooyoung was completely encased in his arms. Wooyoung closed his eyes and breathed in Taehyung’s scent. He smelled like sandalwood and glowing embers.

 

They ended up watching some variety show in Taehyung’s bed, and ended up doing less watching and more making out. At one point Wooyoung was keenly aware of Taehyung’s arousal despite Taehyung’s best efforts to keep it away from him, but the furthest they got was heavy petting.

 

In one way Wooyoung was slightly disappointed, but he was mainly glad they hadn’t done anything further than Taehyung mouthing hotly at Wooyoung’s while sliding his hands under Wooyoung’s shirt to rub his sides. It was definitely not PG-rated, but there was also not even grinding.

 

He didn’t want to take this too far too fast. He was still uncertain of what Taehyung really felt and to be honest he wasn’t even sure how he _himself_ felt. “Stop thinking so hard,” Taehyung mumbled, hugging him tight from the back. “It’s 5 in the morning and you’re being picked up at 7. We can sleep a little more.” His voice was even lower when bogged down with sleep.

 

“I didn’t mean to wake you.” Wooyoung frowned. “I was staying still.”

 

Taehyung pressed a soft kiss to the base of his neck. It sent shivers down Wooyoung’s spine. “You tense up when you’re thinking and worried about something.”

 

“And _that_ woke you up?”

 

“I like to think I’m pretty sensitive to things involving you.” Taehyung smiled against his neck and nuzzled his nose against Wooyoung’s shoulder. His hands slid under Wooyoung’s shirt and tickled his sides, and Wooyoung squirmed to get out of the attack. Taehyung laughed, the sleep almost gone from his voice, and hugged Wooyoung tighter. “Come on. Back to sleep. I set an alarm for 6:30 and that should be fine.” He nuzzled his face into the crook of Wooyoung’s neck again, and in seconds his breathing evened out. Wooyoung didn’t know if it was the rhythmic rise and fall of Taehyung’s chest against his back, but he found himself lulled easily to sleep.

 

Taehyung’s alarm – which Wooyoung realized was his laughter – jolted them up at 6:30. He went through the motions, almost robotically, but by the time his manager came to pick him up, he was basically ready.

 

The first thing his manager did was tug the collars of his shirt around. “What are you doing,” Wooyoung stared.  

 

His manager gave him a look. “You stayed over a night at your boyfriend’s place and you’re not wearing the same clothes you wore when you went over. I’m checking if the stylists have to cover up anything.”

 

Wooyoung felt his face flush. “I didn’t – We didn’t do anything weird.” He batted his manager’s hands away. He tucked himself into the corner of the (empty) van and flipped the hood up, burying his nose in Taehyung’s hoodie. He sighed contently and closed his eyes to fall back asleep.

 

He woke up to someone jostling him and opened his eyes to find San tugging at his hoodie collar. They blinked at each other until San smiled sheepishly. “I was just checking he didn’t leave any marks.”

 

Wooyoung pushed San’s hands away. “We didn’t fuck!” He yelled, probably a little too loudly, because everyone looked back at him. “Sorry,” he grumbled. “We seriously didn’t do anything weird.”

 

San drew back but raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me that two men that are _dating_ slept together and nothing happened?” San looked like he didn’t believe Wooyoung at all. “You’re wearing his clothes which means at one point in the night your clothes must have come off.”

 

“Yeah, to change into sleeping clothes! Nothing happened.” Wooyoung flipped the hood off his hair and ran his fingers through his hair. San just smirked and poked him in the side, wriggling his eyebrows as if to say _sure I believe you_.

 

Wooyoung instead buried his nose in Taehyung’s hoodie again. It smelled like Taehyung’s laundry detergent but also like Taehyung. San just rolled his eyes at him as he sank down lower into the seat and closed his eyes again.

 

Now that they were ‘actually dating’ instead of just being each other’s companies-in-misery, Taehyung bought him more things, including things from just plain Seoul. They would be walking down the streets of Gangnam and Taehyung would make him stop at least 10 times to buy whatever Wooyoung looked for more than a second at. Once, Wooyoung had to sincerely convince Taehyung that no, getting a Pomeranian was not a good idea because he lived in a dorm, ATEEZ was always moving around and so no one could take care of it, and he wasn’t ready for the responsibilities of owning a dog.

 

And now, Wooyoung was staring at the most expensive restaurant in Seoul.        

 

“I’m not dressed for this.” Wooyoung was dressed in a large hoodie and skinny jeans, which is what Taehyung liked the most on him. The problem was, it wasn’t fancy restaurant wear.

 

Taehyung shrugged. “I’m literally wearing torn pants, Wooyoung. No one is gonna judge. I rented out the entire thing for the night.”

 

Wooyoung stared. “The entire thing.”

 

“Yeah. I didn’t want prying eyes.” Taehyung shrugged. “Plus, the outfit thing. I’m sick of wearing suits. We have to wear them every time we’re at some American event.”

 

“You rented the entirety of most expensive restaurant in Korea because you didn’t want to wear a suit.” Wooyoung repeated. He didn’t know what was happening, but he could feel his heart hammering in his chest.

 

Taehyung must have realized something was wrong, because he frowned and turned toward Wooyoung and grabbed his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t want this,” Wooyoung whispered, suddenly feeling small. “I can’t – I can’t go in there.”

 

Taehyung’s frown deepened. “If it’s about what you’re wearing, I promise-“

 

“No!” Wooyoung snapped, and then shrunk backward. “No, that’s.. that’s not it.” He realized there was no turning back now. “We’re just so different. ATEEZ has just debuted and sure, we’re making some headway, but there’s no way I can even buy any of the things you buy me. I haven’t bought you _anything_ since the start of all this. You pay for all our meals, you buy me a billion things, you drive me around everywhere, and – I just – I can’t believe…” Wooyoung wanted to crawl into a hole, but the most he could do was squeeze his eyes shut. “I probably can’t even afford to eat the crumbs off the table there. But you rent out the entire space just on a whim like it’s no big deal. Because it _is_ no big deal to you.”

 

Taehyung said nothing in response, and Wooyoung felt like the ground was swallowing him up. He was being an idiot. Taehyung was spending so much money on him and all he could do was complain that he was spending too much. The definition of an ungrateful jerk. Taehyung let him go and Wooyoung was fully prepared for him to be kicked out of the car, but instead he heard the engine purr on.

 

Wooyoung opened his eyes and found Taehyung was driving out of the parking garage. “Wha-Where are we going?”

 

“Back to my place.” Taehyung said, and there was something about the tone of the voice that made Wooyoung silent. The car ride was stuffy and tense, and Wooyoung considered throwing himself out of the moving car. Before he could weigh the pros and cons of staying and throwing the door open, Taehyung was already pulling into his apartment. They sat for a bit as Taehyung tapped away at his phone, still frowning a little, and the elevator ride was just as stuffy.

 

Wooyoung wanted to leave, but Taehyung steered him to his apartment so he punched the keycode – still 1126 – and opened the door.

 

As soon as they were inside, Taehyung wrapped his arms around Wooyoung and drew him into a tight hug. “Sorry,” Taehyung whispered. Wooyoung blinked, bewildered. He blinked at the door behind Taehyung and brought his hands up to rest on Taehyung’s back. “I thought I was doing all of this for you but I never realized how you would feel about all of it. I’m such a fucking idiot.”

 

Wooyoung closed his eyes and felt all the tension from his body drain away. His knees buckled under him and Taehyung let out a surprised yelp before tightening his hold so Wooyoung wouldn’t fall. “I’m sorry,” Wooyoung whispered. “I was being a selfish jerk. I just- We should go back. You spent all that money reserving it.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Taehyung shook his head. “I know this is kind of making the situation worse because I’m wasting the money, but I don’t think I can stomach being there, not when I know it makes you upset. And you’re totally right. Being in a relationship is about being equals and I made the situation completely unfair for you.”

 

Wooyoung hit his shoulders, though without much force. “God, this is so unfair.”

 

Taehyung raised one eyebrow. “Hm?”

 

“Stop being – stop being _perfect_.” He tried to say the last bit with malice, but Taehyung just laughed and tugged him closer. “Sorry I freaked about something stupid.”

 

“It’s not stupid. I should’ve known better.” Taehyung winked. “I ordered us some jjajangmyun though. From that gross restaurant that you like so much.”

 

Wooyoung scrunched his nose and pushed himself up so they weren’t sitting on the floor anymore. “It’s not _gross_. You should taste gross jjajangmyun.” He paused. “..Is that what you were doing on your phone in the car?” When Taehyung nodded, Wooyoung blushed. “I didn’t know what you were doing but you looked mad.”

 

Taehyung laughed again and held his hand out. Wooyoung took it and pulled so he could help Taehyung up, but Taehyung instead pulled hard and Wooyoung ended up squawking and falling over. Taehyung’s laugh was a lot louder this time but he caught Wooyoung firmly. “I can’t believe you fell for that.”

 

“Well _sorry_ I was just trying to be helpful,” Wooyoung huffed and pushed himself off of Taehyung. He made a theatrical show of stomping away, but while Taehyung’s apartment was gigantic, it wasn’t like he could really go anywhere. He opted for reaching into Taehyung’s supply of citrus tea (bought just for him, actually) and scooping out a giant chunk of honeyed yuju into a mug.

 

Taehyung pulled him into a hug from the back and rested his chin on Wooyoung’s shoulder. He hung on even when Wooyoung shifted to turn on the electric kettle and then shifted again when it was done to actually pour the water into the mug.

 

“Why are you being extra clingy today?”

 

Taehyung snorted sheepishly. “I feel bad for making you panic like that.” He pressed soft kisses onto Wooyoung’s jawline. “And how you felt is totally legitimate. I never thought about how you would be feeling.” He paused and Wooyoung couldn’t see Taehyung, but he felt the smile against his cheek. “I’m still going to buy you presents, though.”

 

Wooyoung rolled his eyes and leaned back into the embrace with a small smile. “You’re not going to greet the delivery guy like this, are you? That’s gonna be just gossip fodder.”

 

\--

 

“I don’t like it.” Yunho announced, when Wooyoung walked in at 1 in the morning.

 

“Hi to you too. Were you waiting?” Wooyoung tossed his shoes off and nudged them over to the side. “What’s going on? What do you not like?”

 

Yunho’s eyes narrowed. “This. And San’s worried about fucking up again so he won’t say it, but he doesn’t like it either.” San protested lightly, but Wooyoung noticed he also looked concerned. “Wooyoung, I’m going to preface this by saying that we both care about you. This isn’t just us being petty or whatever. You _know_ that.”

 

Wooyoung nodded. “I do know that.”

 

“You have to admit that all of this just falls too conveniently into place.” Yunho tugged him forward and sat him down on the floor so that the three of them were sitting in a circle. “He shows up suddenly one day, gets you incredibly sick, the next day you’re suddenly dating and it’s because-“ Yunho cut himself off and San cleared his throat. “Well. You know. And then you decide to break it off because you’re falling for him, and suddenly he’s also in love with you? Wooyoung, I know that things falling into place is great and you _know_ that what I want most of all is for you to be happy but-“ Yunho looked frustrated. “I just..”

 

“We just don’t want you to be hurt.” San said softly and reached out to squeeze Wooyoung’s hand. “Wooyoung, we’re not trying to be antagonistic. We just really seriously don’t want to see you hurt. I just want you to be careful. You’re spending nights over at his place all the time, and it’s not that you’re slacking off in practice or whatever, but I feel like maybe this is moving a little too fast.”

 

Wooyoung ran a hand through his hair. He knew everything Yunho and San were saying was right. And out of everyone else in the world, Yunho and San were on his side. “I can’t stop seeing him,” he whispered, almost a soft confession. “I don’t think I could promise that.”

 

Yunho sighed and San looked concerned.

 

\--

 

It turned out that Yunho and San’s concerns ended up not really mattering, because with ATEEZ’s comeback just around the corner and BTS going on their world tour, it was nearly impossible for Wooyoung to make time to see Taehyung. They resorted to mostly texting and video calls, but usually Wooyoung was too tired to try to match Taehyung’s time for video calls. He couldn’t even count the number of times he’d fallen asleep during a video call in the living room because he didn’t want to keep Yeosang up.

 

Wooyoung missed Taehyung. He missed Taehyung’s hugs, he missed the soft kisses, and he missed the warmth of Taehyung’s body pressed against his at night. He missed the way Taehyung’s eyes crinkled into crescent moons when he smiled, and he missed the way Taehyung chuckled when he was whispering sweet nothings into Wooyoung’s ear. He missed the hours they spent on his couch snuggling and playing games and yelling at each other and laughing.

 

“You’re such a lovesick puppy,” Mingi commented, the fifth time he caught Wooyoung thumbing through the gallery on his phone during their break from dance practice. “At least he seems to miss you as much as you do. _How_ many pictures is he sending you, exactly?”

 

“A billion,” Yeosang complained. “His phone lights up every night even when the notification sound is off.”

 

“I flipped it upside down!” Wooyoung protested.

 

“I can still see the light from the sides!” Yeosang flicked his forehead in reply and crinkled his nose. “You two act like you’re like a million miles apart. He’s going to be back from his world tour soon, you know. I’m glad you two are so in love with each other, but seriously. Give it a break.” Wooyoung just stuck his tongue out at Yeosang and ignored his _oh real mature, Wooyoung_ comment.

 

Mingi laughed. “Let him be, Yeosang. You know what they say. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

 

\--

 

“You have no idea how much I missed you,” Taehyung whispered, and Wooyoung let Taehyung encompass him almost completely. He closed his eyes and clutched onto Taehyung’s back, and barely noticed the ATEEZ members discreetly slipping away into their rooms.

 

Wooyoung didn’t realize _how_ , but he was somehow at Taehyung’s apartment, on Taehyung’s bed, Taehyung pushing his shirt up. “Is this okay?” Taehyung whispered, rubbing his fingers along Wooyoung’s side. “I’m going to stop if it’s not okay, Wooyoung.”

 

“ _No_ ,” Wooyoung hissed, and Taehyung began to draw his hand back. “Wait, I meant – I meant don’t stop.” Wooyoung grabbed Taehyung’s hand and Taehyung laughed breathlessly in his ear. “I’m gonna hit you if you stop.”

 

Taehyung drew back and Wooyoung felt his heart race even louder. If that was even possible. “Wooyoung,” Taehyung whispered softly, voice so low it made Wooyoung’s breath hitch, “Do you fully get what you’re agreeing to?”

 

Wooyoung responded by craning up to kiss Taehyung and pushing his hands under Taehyung’s shirt. “I’m not a baby.”

 

Taehyung smiled and kissed his ear. His hands, so much bigger than Wooyoung’s, eased Wooyoung’s clothes up over his chest. “Raise your shoulders up for me.” Wooyoung complied, shivering a little when Taehyung pulled his hoodie and shirt off with a hard tug. He tugged on Taehyung’s shirt – a loose button up that was big enough that Wooyoung could just pull it up over Taehyung’s shoulders. He spread his hands over Taehyung’s chest. Taehyung wasn’t muscular like Jimin or even Jungkook in BTS, but he wasn’t unfit by any means. “Wooyoung,” Taehyung whispered, and Wooyoung looked up to see Taehyung’s eyes, irises blown wide with arousal. “I want to see you take your jeans off yourself. Can you..” Taehyung sat up and eased Wooyoung up. “Do that for me?”

 

 _Oh god_ , Wooyoung thought, thumbs resting on the waist of his jeans, _oh god oh god oh god_ , and then Taehyung placed his hands on top of Wooyoung’s and all of his thought train stopped. He didn’t know what had possessed him, but he leaned up to kiss Taehyung and slipped his jeans past his hips. Taehyung kept his hands firmly on Wooyoung’s hips as Wooyoung slid the jeans completely off, and Wooyoung felt Taehyung’s index finger dance lightly across the band of his boxers.

 

Wooyoung reached instead for the band of Taehyung’s pants and tugged on the buckle, scrunching his nose when his fingers kept fumbling. Taehyung laughed. “I got it,” he kissed Wooyoung’s nose. Taehyung’s own pants came off soon after that and Taehyung pressed Wooyoung down again, kissing hungrily as his hands traced all the lines of Wooyoung’s body. The kiss left Wooyoung lightheaded and gasping for breath, and he grasped aimlessly at the air until Taehyung grabbed his hand. “Hold me with your other hand,” Taehyung whispered, and Wooyoung did. “You can dig your nails into my back.”

 

“Wha-“ His question ended in a soft yelp instead when Taehyung started to mouth a heated line down from his neck down to his chest. Taehyung’s free hand came up to play at his side, rubbing smooth circles. Wooyoung was barely aware of what was happening with that hand because Taehyung was wrecking havoc on his torso with his mouth.

 

“God, you’re so sensitive,” Taehyung groaned, pressing his lips to Wooyoung’s again. He pulled away to hiss, “Do you know how fucking _sexy_ that is?” He ground his hips into Wooyoung’s, and Wooyoung realized just how aroused Taehyung was. And how aroused he himself was.

 

Wooyoung reached down, and he hesitated, but Taehyung rested their foreheads together and smiled, one corner quirking up a little more than the other. Wooyoung tugged Taehyung’s boxers down and took his arousal in his hands.

 

It felt weird.

 

Wooyoung didn’t know how else to describe it. He’d never really touched anyone else’s dick other than his own, and he hadn’t really realized what it felt like. It was hot and heavy in his palms, the skin silky at the shaft and strangely smooth at the top. He rubbed his thumb slowly around the head and Taehyung groaned. Wooyoung blushed. “Oh, sorry, I forgot-“

 

Taehyung laughed, a little breathless. “It’s fine. It was kind of cute to see you exploring.” He nibbled at Wooyoung’s earlobe. “Keep going. Feels good.”

 

It was hard to forget with Taehyung breathing hard in his ear, body tightening whenever Wooyoung’s hands brush an overly sensitive part. Wooyoung memorized them – the head (but that was obvious), at the base on the underside, just below the head on the top. Taehyung liked it when Wooyoung brushed his fingers lightly along the sides but preferred a firmer pressure on the tip.

 

“Wooyoung,” Taehyung hissed, and Wooyoung looked up. He didn’t realize he was breathing hard himself, even though all he had been doing was focusing on making Taehyung feel good. “Hips up.” Wooyoung did, and Taehyung slid Wooyoung’s boxers down his thighs. Taehyung kissed him again, deep and open mouthed, tongue sliding into Wooyoung’s mouth and hungrily exploring.

 

His large hands wrapped around Wooyoung’s cock and Wooyoung gasped when Taehyung brought their arousals together, pumping both together in a tight fist. Wooyoung had to break the kiss so he could breathe, gasping in short breaths. He’d never had anyone else touch him, either, and it felt so different from when he was jerking himself off. Taehyung’s hands were strong, his cock felt like velvet rubbed up against Wooyoung’s own, and Taehyung had buried his face into Wooyoung’s shoulder, groaning thickly into Wooyoung’s shoulder and ear.

 

It was all _way too much_. His back arched clear off the bed and he came with a cry, shivering as his body tensed over and over. Taehyung’s hand quickened and he groaned loudly, and Wooyoung raised his arms to hold him while Taehyung got his bearings back. Taehyung laughed softly. “Sorry, made you a mess.”

 

Wooyoung laughed and shook his head. “I liked it.”

 

“Me too, but we’re not done. Hang on, though.” Taehyung sat up and grinned playfully. “I gotta say, the primal part of me finds this really sexy, but you’re gonna feel pretty gross in a bit. I’m gonna grab a towel.”

 

Wooyoung felt his face flush and he propped himself up. His chest and stomach were splattered in his and Taehyung’s release, and while Taehyung was right that it was going to get gross very quickly, for some reason he felt the heat rush to between his legs. He drew his index finger down his stomach, making a face at the stickiness, and heard Taehyung laugh.

 

He looked up and found Taehyung standing at the doorway to the bathroom with a towel in his hand. Seeing Taehyung completely nude, cock heavy and hard between his legs, made his cheeks flush. Taehyung kissed the tip of his nose and gently scrubbed him down with the warm damp towel. “We could stop here,” Taehyung smiled.

 

“Why do you keep suggesting we stop?” Wooyoung scowled. “You don’t have to baby me. I want this.”

 

Taehyung grinned. “I just want to make sure I’m not doing anything you don’t want to do.” He climbed on the bed and tossed the cooling towel off to the side. He nudged Wooyoung’s legs apart and kissed the inside of Wooyoung’s knee. “I’m not going to ask again,” Taehyung said, voice dropped with low again. “Stop me if you need to. Otherwise we’re going all the way.”

 

Wooyoung nodded and let his legs fall a little more open. Taehyung took that as invitation – and it was – to press closer. Taehyung kissed him before moving lower, this time moving past his chest and his stomach. Wooyoung knew it was coming, but his hips still bucked when Taehyung took him into his mouth. “Holy _shit_ ,” Wooyoung hissed, his hands clenching beside him. Taehyung laughed, and with Wooyoung’s cock in his mouth, Wooyoung felt it and he groaned. Taehyung’s hands were firm on his hips to keep him moving too much, and Wooyoung’s hands were fisting permanent wrinkles into Taehyung’s 1000-threadcount sheets.

 

There was no way, in the midst of Taehyung sucking him off, that Wooyoung have noticed Taehyung reaching for the lube in his bedside stand, or heard it click open. He did, however, feel Taehyung’s finger push into him and he tensed immediately.

 

Taehyung lifted his head from Wooyoung’s cock and pressed soft kisses into a line down Wooyoung’s inner thighs. “You have to relax, baby.” He cooed. “I gotta open you up for me.”

 

Wooyoung _knew_ that, logically. He’d watched enough gay porn and read enough about it when he realized how much into guys he was that he was familiar with the process. It was just hard to think about logic when Taehyung had a finger up his ass. Taehyung sucked a hickey into Wooyoung’s inner thigh, dark and obvious, and lifted the one hand still remaining on Wooyoung’s hip to wrap around his cock instead. Wooyoung whined.

 

“It doesn’t hurt, does it?” Taehyung sounded amused. “You are a little tight, though.. Breathe, Wooyoung. Take a deep breath. In. Out. Good. Keep doing it.”

 

It didn’t hurt. Just weird, and Wooyoung squirmed a little. Taehyung kissed him and Wooyoung thought _gross, you were just sucking my cock_ , but Taehyung was slowly pumping Wooyoung’s dick in the same gentle pace as he was pushing his finger in and out of Wooyoung and he realized he couldn’t really have rational thoughts.

 

Taehyung must have decided Wooyoung was loose enough for another because suddenly there was one finger leaving him and two entering. Wooyoung’s body tensed up all over again and Taehyung rubbed firmly across the slit of Wooyoung’s cock, making him focus on how good everything felt instead of the strange stretch. Taehyung took everything slow, and while Taehyung’s fingers were big, Wooyoung didn’t feel any burn with just two.

 

Taehyung prodded inside, fingers scissoring and making Wooyoung whimper a little at times. Sometimes Taehyung paused to add more lube, warming it between his fingers before pushing the gel inside Wooyoung to make the movement easier.

 

Three hurt. Wooyoung had to make Taehyung stop – and Taehyung stopped as soon as Wooyoung said _that hurts_ , pulling three back out and pushing back with just two. Taehyung had moved, arranged themselves so he wasn’t just settled between Wooyoung’s spread legs but also cradling him, pressing soft kissed against Wooyoung’s cheeks and forehead and lips and nose and nibbling comfortingly at his ear. “Deep breaths, Wooyoung,” Taehyung mumbled, and Wooyoung did. It was okay with two fingers pushing inside, felt _good_ , even, but he wasn’t sure about more, especially since the first time had burned.

 

Taehyung didn’t press and patiently fingered him, listening to Wooyoung’s whimpers and shaking breaths pacify before slowly, almost painstakingly, push in a third finger.

 

It still burned, stretched Wooyoung uncomfortably, and Wooyoung’s thighs shook involuntarily. “Pull out?” Taehyung asked, brows furrowed in concern, but Wooyoung shook his head. “Wooyoung, if it hurts..”

 

“I want this,” Wooyoung said quickly, before Taehyung could pull back out. “I just have to get over it. Just take it slow and I’ll be fine.”

 

Taehyung rubbed his side and his hand returned to stroke Wooyoung’s cock, which, to Wooyoung’s surprise, hadn’t wilted despite the burn down below. Taehyung _did_ take it slow, pushing in only lightly at first, working slowly, but soon enough Taehyung was pressing in all three to the end, pressing hard at his inner walls and making Wooyoung into a shaky mess.

 

“Fuck,” Taehyung groaned. “You’re so fucking hot right now. You feel good, baby? You like this?”

 

Wooyoung _did_. He was mewling a little, body shaking and flinching as Taehyung fingered him open. His cock was dripping, leaking a little every time Taehyung stroked it and pushed his fingers inside. He clung onto Taehyung for dear life, almost afraid to look at Taehyung’s eyes.

 

He knew he’d find pure arousal there, almost bestial and fierce. Every one of Taehyung’s breaths made butterflies fly in his stomach, tying knots of arousal tighter and tighter combined with Taehyung spreading him open.

 

“I’m gonna take you,” Taehyung whispered, and Wooyoung nodded. There was a crinkling – condom wrapper, Wooyoung realized – and then Taehyung was positioning himself between Wooyoung’s legs, squeezing and warming lube onto his hands before stroking it onto himself and pushing more into Wooyoung. “It’s going to hurt but I’m going to take it slow.”

 

Taehyung pressed his forehead to Wooyoung’s and kissed him slowly, tongue gentler this time as he ran his tongue all into Wooyoung’s mouth. Wooyoung felt Taehyung’s cock press against him, pressing slowly but firmly at him until the tight ring of his entrance gave in and let the tip of Taehyung’s cock in.

 

It hurt.

 

Wooyoung cried out, body tensing immediately at the intrusion, so much bigger and hotter and thicker and _oh my god bigger_ than he had expected. Taehyung hissed. “You have to relax, Wooyoung,” Taehyung whispered. “It’s going to hurt so much more if you don’t.”

 

“ _It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts_ -“

 

“Should I stop?” Taehyung whispered, wiping what Wooyoung realized were tears from Wooyoung’s eyes. “I can pull back out.”

 

No. That was not what Wooyoung wanted. It hurt, felt like his ass was on fire and someone was shoving a burning metal rod into him, but he didn’t want Taehyung to pull out. He shook his head, not trusting his voice, and Taehyung kissed his nose. A hand came to stroke Wooyoung’s cock again, another to steady Wooyoung at his waist, and Taehyung started pushing in slowly again.

 

Wooyoung honestly felt like his body was splitting down the middle, but all of a sudden he could feel Taehyung’s balls against his ass, Taehyung breathing in hard gasps against his neck, and his hands gripping hard at Wooyoung’s waist. “Oh god,” Wooyoung whispered, and his voice trembled. “Are you – Are you –“

 

“Yeah.” Taehyung’s voice was just as shaky as Wooyoung’s. “I’m all in. I could go in a little deeper if I do this-“ He shifted and buried himself just that much more into Wooyoung, and Wooyoung cried out. “Fuck, you’re so fucking _tight_.” Taehyung hissed, loosening his grip against Wooyoung’s waist. He kissed Wooyoung, and it was messy and hot and all over the place. “Does it hurt?” He wiped more tears that were scrolling down Wooyoung’s cheeks.

 

Wooyoung sniffled. “Yes, but – I don’t want you to stop.” He patted down and shakily reached down to where he’d been stuffed full of Taehyung. Taehyung smiled and brought one of his hands down to cover Wooyoung’s as Wooyoung patted down. “It’s really all in there.”

 

“It is.” Taehyung whispered. “You’re all full of me.” He tugged Wooyoung’s hand so Wooyoung could trace where he was stretched fully around Taehyung.

 

That sent shivers down Wooyoung’s spine. “A-are you going to move?”

 

“Only when you’re ready.”

 

Wooyoung opened his arms and Taehyung held him, staying still except for a small shift to make their hips angled a little better. Wooyoung didn’t think the burning would disappear anytime soon, but when it was bearable, he nodded a little and Taehyung started to pull out. The burning kicked up anew once Taehyung was moving, but Wooyoung just gripped Taehyung harder and whimpered without telling him to stop.

 

Taehyung moved slowly, pushing a little in and out at times, angling himself a little differently each time. Wooyoung knew what he was looking for, but he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling. The burn was starting to subside slowly into bliss, the uncomfortable stretch of his hole becoming more and more pleasurable, and he wasn’t sure if he really needed Taehyung to find his prostate.

 

He was about to open his mouth to tell Taehyung such, but Taehyung bent over a little more forward and angled his hips so that he brushed against something and sent fireworks up Wooyoung’s spine. A loud moan that Wooyoung didn’t mean exploded from his lips and he raised his legs, shakily inviting Taehyung to do it again.

 

And Taehyung did. Again, and again, and again. Each time, Taehyung pulled out a little more and pushed in a little faster. Taehyung was thrusting harder at every thrust inward, his hands a strong anchor at Wooyoung’s hips, until the pace was almost animalistic.

 

Wooyoung was screaming. He hadn’t realized he was, but he was, and it wasn’t because he was in pain. He didn’t even know when the pain had disappeared, but it was like he had no other sensation. He couldn’t think coherently, not with Taehyung fucking almost mercilessly into his prostate with every thrust, Taehyung himself moaning loudly into Wooyoung’s mouth between heated kisses.

 

“Oh god,” Wooyoung cried, his toes curling and his thighs quaking, “I’m so _close_ , oh _god_.”

 

Taehyung took a hold of Wooyoung’s cock and Wooyoung yelled, back arching up into Taehyung’s touch. Taehyung was stroking him up and down at the same pace he was fucking into Wooyoung, and Wooyoung mind was swimming. He tried to Taehyung he was so close, _so close_ , but his brain was useless and he all he could do was grip onto Taehyung’s back and take what Taehyung was giving him. Taehyung pulled completely out and then slammed back in, punching past Wooyoung’s prostate. He squeezed down on Wooyoung’s cock at the same time, thumb digging almost painfully into the tip, and Wooyoung screamed as he came harder than he’d ever done in his life.

 

Taehyung groaned and he did it again, pulling completely out before slamming back in, and again, and again, hand leaving Wooyoung’s draining cock to secure an anchor on his waist, and Wooyoung whimpered when Taehyung buried himself deep, Taehyung’s own thighs shaking as he came.

 

Wooyoung came to Taehyung wiping his stomach. “I passed out..?”

 

“Mm.” Taehyung laughed a little. He sounded sleepy. “Just for a couple minutes. I don’t think you passed out. Just blissed out.” He shifted, and Wooyoung realized Taehyung was still inside him, but he was behind him now, holding Wooyoung from the back. He was overly sensitive from his recent orgasm, but it felt good. Taehyung lazily tossed the towel down over the side of the bed. “Fuck,” Taehyung said, wrapping his arms around Wooyoung. He thrust sloppily a few times before twisting his hips and pulling out of Wooyoung. Wooyoung shivered at the feeling of the cock leaving him with a wet pop. Taehyung pulled the condom off of himself, tied it into a quick knot before tossing it in the trash, and fell back into bed.

 

“Was that good for you?” Wooyoung whispered. He was falling asleep.

 

“So good,” Taehyung whispered, and Wooyoung smiled. Taehyung was also falling asleep. Taehyung held him tight, nuzzling the back of his neck, and Wooyoung felt almost giddy with glee. Taehyung was so warm. “I love you so much,” Taehyung whispered, voice breathy and low as he fell asleep. “Seokjin-hyung.”

 

And just like that, Wooyoung’s world shattered.


	5. Chapter 5

 

He didn’t realize until he’d gotten back the dorms that he was wearing his own pants, but Taehyung’s hoodie. “Holy shit, Wooyoung, what happened?” Yunho demanded. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost – are you _crying_?”

 

At Yunho’s last yell, doors opened and Wooyoung was vaguely aware of everyone trying to figure out what was happening, but he wasn’t processing any of it. “Guys,” he said, and everyone fell silent. “I want to go to bed.”

 

He was shuffled off to bed and he felt a body sit down. “Wooyoung,” San said, voice soft, “What happened?”

 

“You were right,” Wooyoung said, and tried to keep his voice from shaking, but couldn’t.

 

He was answered by a long silence before San whispered, “Oh, Wooyoung”. Wooyoung turned to face him and also found Yunho there. They both looks like puppies left out in the rain. “Fuck, Wooyoung,” San whispered, again, and he gripped Wooyoung’s hand. “I never _wanted_ to be right.”

 

“Fuck him,” Yunho hissed. “ _Fuck_ him.”

 

Wooyoung just shook his head and he realized he was crying. Yunho made a broken noise and San held him into a tight hug and let Wooyoung cry himself to sleep.

 

\--

 

Wooyoung blinked slowly and realized he was still being held. “Hey,” San greeted. He reached around Wooyoung and handed Wooyoung his phone. “He was calling you and texting you nonstop, so we blocked the number. He’s sent you like… a billion KakaoTalk messages.”

 

Yunho scrunched his nose. “He also came here, but Hongjoong-hyung refused to let him in.”

 

“He… came here?” Wooyoung repeated. He tried to sit up, but San kept him down, mumbling something about _you need more rest_. “When?”

 

“About half an hour after you cried yourself to sleep.” Yunho’s scowl deepened. “He went groveling. Literally went down on his knees and begged to see you, but Hongjoong-hyung just shut the door in his face. Mingi said he’s still out there.”

 

Wooyoung opened his phone. He opened KakaoTalk and watched the preview messages from Taehyung continue to change. _Wooyoung, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry. Wooyoung, please._ He pressed down so he could exit out of the chatroom without looking, but almost as soon as he did, more messages started a new chat. He stared at the rapidly filling messages and flipped back instead to the friend list. San and Yunho said nothing but they were watching him.

 

Yunho covered the screen with his hand. Big. Just like Taehyung’s. Wooyoung refused to think about it. “You don’t have to do it now, Wooyoung. You’re crying again.”

 

Wooyoung blinked, and then realized Yunho was right. He rubbed angrily at his eyes and punched the block button on his KakaoTalk, threw the phone across the room, and turned back to bury his face in San’s chest again to cry.

\--

 

“Wooyoung, _seriously.”_

 

“For the hundredth time, I’m fine.” Wooyoung shrugged. He spent all of Monday crying and sleeping, San and Yunho basically rotating who was snuggling him, but come Tuesday morning, he refused to think about it. And the way he did that was by throwing himself to practice. The Tuesday and Wednesday music shows weren’t airing this week, so he had some time to kick himself back into gear. No matter how many times everyone tried to tell him to rest up.

 

He’d been basically nonstop dancing since he woke up. His entire body throbbed, especially his lower body, but he refused to think about it. Every time he got to thinking about it, he just got up and started the routine all over again.

 

It was working. As long as he ignored Yunho and San’s frown. “Don’t just stand there,” Wooyoung sighed. “Come practice with me.”

 

Yeosang looked concerned. “You’ve been going without a break for hours. You’re gonna collapse at this rate.”

 

Wooyoung ignored him and spent the entire day there, trudging back home past midnight only because Yeosang had all but ordered Yunho and Mingi to drag him out of the practice room. They threw him into the shower and Wooyoung, out of spite, turned the water all the way to freezing cold. Not that it was hurting anyone but himself.

 

He sat below the teeth-chattering spray, trying very hard not to think about anything he’d worked to keep out of his mind. His eyes caught the hickey Taehyung had sucked into his leg.

  
He spent 30 minutes in the shower crying.

 

\--

 

“No.” Hongjoong said, uncharacteristically scowling. “Mingi pulled you out of a freezing shower yesterday. You were crying _and_ your lips were blue. You’re taking today off, Wooyoung. You should’ve taken yesterday off.”

 

Wooyoung opened his mouth to protest, but Hongjoong glared. Wooyoung shoved his hands in his pockets. “It keeps me from thinking about it,” Wooyoung mumbled. Hongjoong didn’t say anything, so Wooyoung continued, “If I’m just doing nothing, I start thinking about it. That’s why I started crying in the shower. Because I wasn’t doing anything. If I’m practicing, I’m thinking about our choreography. Just. Please. Hyung. It’s good for me.”

 

Hongjoong looked like he wanted to protest, but Mingi cleared his throat. “I think he has a point, hyung.” Hongjoong glared at the taller rapper, and Mingi raised his hands in defense. “So maybe I agree that maybe it’s not the healthiest thing to do. But you know, things take time, hyung, and Wooyoung’s just on Day 2. As far as things go, it’s not too bad. Wooyoung was doing fine during practice yesterday.”

 

Hongjoong’s voice was stern. “When he was pushing himself so hard he could barely get out of the shower you dragged him out of.”

 

Mingi winced. “I mean, yeah. But still. It’s just day 2, hyung. On a rank of freak-out modes, it’s not too bad.”

 

Hongjoong seemed to be considering things, and then he finally sighed. “All right. But only on _my_ terms. You take breaks, eat, and come back with the rest of us. I’m going to make Yunho sling you over his shoulder and carry you back here otherwise.”  


\--

 

Practice went better than Wooyoung was expecting, especially because San and Yunho stuck right next to him and kept him occupied. San even insisted showering with him when they got back home, but Wooyoung kicked him out.

 

He stripped and stood in front of the mirror. The hickeys and bite marks Taehyung had left on him hadn’t quite disappeared, so he tore his eyes away and trudged to the tub. He set a reasonable temperature and scrubbed away at himself, pausing when he came to his thigh. He traced the mark and dug his thumb into it.

 

He was so fucking stupid.

 

\--

 

He went through the rest of the shows on autopilot. He wasn’t really thinking about anything. He went to the morning rehearsal, got through it, practiced as they waited, went through the stages, and then practiced when they got back before heading off to bed. He hadn’t checked his phone in forever. It was eerily silent without Taehyung texting him 100 times a minute.

 

The rest of ATEEZ was worried about him. Some of them were vocal about it and some of them just frowned in disapproval, but all of them were constantly hovering nearby. Like he was going to just break.

 

He wanted to tell them that he was _fine_ , Inkigayo was over and now they could just go home and rest. He was going to tell them as soon as they got off the stage, as soon as the world stopped spinning. And getting dark.

 

The last thing he remembered was San looking angry.

 

\--

 

He woke to a steady beeping sound, white walls, and Seonghwa sitting by his bedside. “Hey,” Seonghwa smiled. “The doctor said you would be getting up soon.” He scooted closer and held Wooyoung’s hand. “We shouldn’t have been surprised, I guess. You barely ate anything for a week. Yeosang said you hadn’t been sleeping well, either. Stress, lack of sleep, overworked. The doctor called it ‘the standard idol member mix’.” Seonghwa scrunched his nose in distaste.

 

“What happened? I think San was mad.”

 

“Well, you collapsed. And he was there.”

 

“San?”

 

“No.” Seonghwa frowned. “Kim Taehyung. He was hanging around our waiting room all week, you know. Mingi and Jongho were just fending him off the entire time. Hongjoong gave them orders to keep him out of your sight at all times. I’ve never seen Hongjoong more pissed off at someone than at him. With good reason, though.” Seonghwa squeezed Wooyoung’s hand. “They put you in a 1-person room. I didn’t really see in the commotion, but I think he was here. He probably paid for you to have your space.”

 

There was a knock on the hospital door, and after a moment, the door opened slowly. Seokjin stood there holding a basket of fruit and looking concerned. Seonghwa looked like he wanted to kick Seokjin back out, sunbae or not, but Wooyoung just patted his hand.

 

Seokjin placed the basket on the side table and sat down on a chair opposite the side Seonghwa was sitting on. Wooyoung watched Seokjin’s eyes travel from the IV fluid to the line in his arm. Seokjin sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Wooyoung,” he whispered. “How… how are you doing?”

 

“I’m okay,” Wooyoung mumbled softly. “They said it was just stress and lack of sleep.” After a pause, Wooyoung asked, “The 1-person room. Did… you pay for it?”

 

Seokjin nodded. “He asked me to do it.” He looked once again at the IV fluid and fidgeted his hands. “Wooyoung, I have to.. I have to ask you something. Did Taehyung… did he… I mean, you’re in the hospital and I’ve seen stress and lack of sleep, and it doesn’t look like this. Did he..” Seokjin swallowed thickly. “Did he assault you? In any way?” He looked like he’d swallowed a worm, and next to Wooyoung, Seonghwa bristled.

 

Wooyoung shook his head. “No. He didn’t rape me, if that’s what you’re asking.”

 

Seokjin deflated visibly. He then cleared his throat. “Now that I know it’s not… anything like that, I just want you to know that Taehyung is really regretting what he did. I’m sure you know but he’s been trying to see you every day. He really, really loves you, Wooyoung. I know it’s hard to, but if you could forgive-“

 

“Sunbaenim,” Seonghwa cut Seokjin off, and Seokjin looked startled, like he’d forgotten Seonghwa was there. “I understand that you’re on his side because you’re in the same group, and he’s probably important to you. But just as he’s important to you, Wooyoung is important to us. To me. Even if he didn’t physically assault Wooyoung, Wooyoung is in the hospital. Because of him. If you’re just going to try to get Wooyoung to see him again, I’m going to ask you to leave.”

 

Seokjin blinked, looking like a deer caught in headlights. He then laughed defeatedly. “..I’m sorry, Wooyoung.” He reached over. “You’re Seonghwa, right? You’re right. I’ve been just thinking of Taehyung and he…” Seokjin trailed off. “Never mind. You’re right. I’m so sorry, Wooyoung. I get a little protective of my kids. But Seonghwa is right and I’m glad you called me out on it. I shouldn’t be in here telling you to do anything.” He stood up and squeezed Wooyoung’s hand. “Take the hospital room, though. It’s the least you can take. I talked to the doctors and they want to keep you overnight just so you can actually rest, so I paid for the night. Well. Taehyung paid for the night.” He hesitated, but after a moment he pulled Wooyoung into a hug. Seokjin’s embrace was warm and it made Wooyoung want to cry, just a little. “Get some rest, Wooyoung. And I’m sorry again for before.”

 

Seokjin stood up, shook Seonghwa’s hand (awkwardly, Wooyoung noted), and ruffled Wooyoung’s hair softly before leaving.

 

Seonghwa leaned back in his chair and sighed. “You know. I’m glad he asked you that.”

 

“What?”

 

“I was worried about the same thing,” Seonghwa confessed quietly. “You know. The assault thing.”

 

Wooyoung rubbed his temples. “He’s not a bad person, hyung.”

 

Seonghwa didn’t answer immediately. After a moment of silence, he said, “Anyone who hurts one of my kids like this is a bad person.” He got up to tuck the blankets around Wooyoung. “Close your eyes, Wooyoung. I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

 

\--

 

“Well,” Yunho mumbled. “He’s done it now.”

 

Wooyoung looked up from folding the hospital gown. “Who’s done what?”

 

“Your ex.” Yunho grumbled, and Wooyoung frowned. “He posted something on the BTS Twitter.”

 

Wooyoung picked his phone off the table and immediately regretted it, remembering why he’d avoided his phone like the plague. He quickly unlocked the phone and opened the Twitter app so he wouldn’t have to stare at the photo of him and Taehyung making dumb faces at the camera that had been set to his background and lock screen.

 

He clicked the BTS Twitter and was greeted with a bunch of photos of himself and Taehyung.

 

[ _To the person I love the most in the world. I can’t express how sorry I am. I’m so, so sorry. I’m sorry for hurting you so badly. I’m sorry, Wooyoung. I love you._ ]

 

“Cool.” Wooyoung mumbled. “Wait, 34 minutes ago? It hasn’t been taken down yet?”

 

“Looks weirder if you delete it. You’re both guys. No one is gonna think that there’s some kind of dating going on.” Yunho was scrolling furiously on his phone. “It’s on all the news sites, though. People are trying to figure out what he’s apologizing for.”

 

Wooyoung didn’t even know where some of the photos had come from. He recognized two – the one of him sleeping in Taehyung’s bed on the first week they went on their ‘date’. There was one from one of their dates to Lotte World, Wooyoung with giraffe ears and Taehyung with dog ears. But he didn’t recognize the other two. They were of just him.

 

One was at a beach, and he was looking at something in his hands. The bottom of his jeans were wet and his sneakers and socks lay off to the side. He was laughing, eyes crinkled in amusement. Oh. He remembered. He was laughing at a hermit crab who was using a discarded lego block as its house. He didn’t know Taehyung had taken a picture.

 

He slid to the last photo. He was wearing Taehyung’s stuff – he recognized the shirt and the sweatpants, rolled up on the bottom because Taehyung was taller than he was. He was sitting on the floor in front of Taehyung’s couch, hugging one of Taehyung’s giant dolls and focused on the screen in front of him. He was playing some soccer game, he remembered, but apparently Taehyung was watching him instead.

 

“Damn,” Yunho mumbled, and Wooyoung flinched. He’d forgotten Yunho was right there. “Maybe San and I were wrong about him.”

 

Wooyoung frowned. “What are you talking about?”

 

Yunho didn’t answer and just stayed scowling at his phone screen.

 

\--

 

“Well, apparently the office is getting a billion calls asking what the relationship is. And our Twitter is being bombarded by people asking you to forgive him for whatever he’s done.” Hongjoong sighed. “And…. Our songs are apparently shooting up in charts.” He sighed again. “Seonghwa pointed out that’s probably what he was aiming for.”

 

Jongho tapped his foot. “So like.. what now?”

 

“Nothing. We continue like nothing’s happened.” Seonghwa sighed. “Wooyoung, are you gonna be okay?”

 

Wooyoung wasn’t really sure. He opened his phone again and clicked into the BTS twitter. The tweet had been pushed down lower now, but they’d kept it on their Twitter page. It was the most commented on out of the ones recently posted, and the photos made his heart clench again. He shut it off and flopped down on the couch. He just wanted the music show to start already so he didn’t have to keep thinking about it.

 

The stage went on as usual, although lately every time he came off stage he was feeling more and more exhausted. Yeosang had told Hongjoong and Seonghwa that he wasn’t sleeping very well at night, and San had been sleeping more in Wooyoung’s bed than in his own bed lately just to help Wooyoung sleep better.

 

He trudged back to the waiting room, clinging onto Yunho’s arm. If Yunho felt like he was dragging Wooyoung along, he didn’t say anything. He closed his eyes and pressed his cheek to Yunho’s arm and let Yunho lead him back to the waiting room. “I hope you’re not leading me somewhere weird,” Wooyoung mumbled, and Yunho laughed.

 

Yunho’s laugh was cut off abruptly and he stopped walking, so Wooyoung opened his eyes and found someone completely unexpected leaning on the wall right next to their door. Min Yoongi. Hongjoong looked mad and Seonghwa looked like he didn’t know what to do. “Go inside, Yunho. Take Wooyoung with you.” Hongjoong never looked at them, but Yunho wrapped his arm around Wooyoung’s shoulder and tried to steer Wooyoung inside.

 

A firm hand gripped Wooyoung’s wrist. Yoongi was shorter than Yunho, but he didn’t seem fazed. “I need to talk to Wooyoung, if you don’t mind.”

 

“I do mind,” Yunho snapped, and tried to pull Wooyoung away. At that moment, Wooyoung realized exactly why Yoongi was there. Taehyung would have never gotten past Hongjoong and Seonghwa because he cared too much about what the ATEEZ members thought of him. Even if he did, he would have never gripped Wooyoung hard enough. Seokjin probably could have gotten past Hongjoong and Seonghwa with his warm charms, but he also would have let go of Wooyoung when Yunho pulled.

 

Yoongi kept his grip firm. It was hard enough to turn Wooyoung’s wrist red, but not hard enough to hurt. “I’m not backing out.” Yoongi said calmly, voice smooth. “I’m not taking you to where Taehyung is. Taehyung is a fucking idiot and I’m not backing him up. But I still need to talk to you.” Yoongi was looking directly at Wooyoung, and Wooyoung realized he was making Wooyoung make a choice. Wooyoung had been letting Hongjoong and Seonghwa shield him away from Taehyung, so he never had to make the choice himself. If not Hongjoong and Seonghwa, Yunho and San were always around.

 

“Okay,” Wooyoung said, surprising himself. He felt Yunho flinch. “Okay, but you have to promise me that Taehyung isn’t going to be there.”

 

Yoongi nodded and looked pointedly at Yunho, and then to Hongjoong and Seonghwa. Yunho’s eyes narrowed, but he let Wooyoung go. “Have your phone?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Okay, call us the moment you need us.” Yunho rubbed his thumb across Wooyoung’s wrist and slammed the door behind him as he went into the waiting room. Hongjoong and Seonghwa hesitated, but Wooyoung nodded and both followed Yunho into the room.

 

Yoongi let his arm go and Wooyoung rubbed the red mark. “Sorry. But come on.” He nodded and started walking, so Wooyoung followed. Yoongi didn’t say anything to him, but Wooyoung kind of liked that he wasn’t being interrogated. Yoongi did hold the door open to for him at the car (just as fancy as Taehyung’s, Wooyoung noted, without much surprise). “It’s going to look like I’m driving to Taehyung’s, but I’m actually driving to my place. We just all live in the same apartment complex.”

 

Of course they did. Wooyoung snorted and buckled himself in. San had messaged him a bunch of messages he couldn’t really decipher, but ended with, _let me know if you need to be picked up_. Wooyoung shoved the phone back in his pocket. “I heard rookies nowadays don’t even get phones when they debut,” Yoongi commented, eyes still on the road. “I guess not you guys.”

 

“It depends.”

 

Yoongi grunted in acknowledgement and the rest of the ride was silent. The car pulled into a familiar parking garage and Wooyoung wanted to laugh at how he was back here again on a Sunday evening. But Yoongi took him to a different elevator, and Wooyoung realized that Yoongi must be living in a different building than Taehyung. The realization disappointed him. A little bit.

 

“Oh, by the way, someone else is home.” When Wooyoung did a double take, Yoongi shrugged. “It’s not Taehyung. Don’t worry.”

 

“Is it Seokjin?”

 

“You’re not just a dumb pretty boy, I like that.” Yoongi said, and Wooyoung scrunched his nose. He wondered if Seokjin and Yoongi lived together. Yoongi punched their door code in and held the door open for Wooyoung. The house smelled like home-cooked meals.

 

Seokjin came rushing out to the front door, drying his hands on a pink apron. “Hey! I didn’t think you had time to eat, so I made dinner. Come eat. You can take the blue slippers.”

 

Wooyoung took his shoes off and put them off to the side, which was way more caution than he’d ever taken at Taehyung’s place. He had to stop thinking about Taehyung. He put on the blue slippers and watched Yoongi toss off his own shoes and shove his feet into gray slippers. “So you two like.. live together?”

 

Seokjin smiled. “Yeah. We realized that there was no point having two places. Yoongi just has a tenant in his now. Come sit. Yoongi, can you help me setting up?”

 

Wooyoung felt awkward sitting while Yoongi and Seokjin were setting up, but Seokjin was adamant that he couldn’t help. Seokjin smiled at him every time their eyes met, but Yoongi seemed content in working over and around him. Wooyoung wondered how their dynamic worked.

 

“Eat. You must be hungry.” Seokjin smiled and sat down next to Wooyoung. Yoongi sat across from him. Wooyoung felt a little boxed in.

 

“I’m not really.” Wooyoung mumbled. “I thought we were here to talk.”

 

“Eat first,” Seokjin insisted and picked his chopsticks up.

 

Wooyoung guessed that was the end of that talk, so he defeatedly picked his own up. Yoongi had already started eating beside him. After a moment, Wooyoung realized that all the side dishes were ones he liked. He put his chopstick back down and asked, “Did you ask him what I liked?”

 

Seokjin hesitated, and then cleared his throat. “Yes. Now eat. Even just a little. I remember being a rookie. Hungry all the time.” He smiled warmly and Wooyoung picked up his chopsticks again. He didn’t eat much but Seokjin seemed to be satisfied enough with what Wooyoung had managed to eat. Seokjin loaded up the dishwasher and Yoongi put away the leftovers, once again forbidding Wooyoung from doing anything.

 

Seokjin brought out some citrus tea in heavy mugs and sat back down next to Wooyoung, handing him one as well. Yoongi sat across from Wooyoung again with a cup of coffee. “Wooyoung,” Seokjin rubbed the edge of his mug. “Are you doing okay?”

 

“Huh?” That wasn’t really the question he was expecting. Wooyoung had actually been expecting a repeat of what Seokjin had tried to do back at the hospital before Seonghwa stopped him.

 

Seokjin smiled warmly at him. “I wanted to know how you were doing. I didn’t get a chance to check up on you after you were discharged from the hospital.” He patted Wooyoung’s hand. “You don’t look so good, if I’m being honest.”

 

Wooyoung ducked his head. “I’m fine,” he mumbled, although the other two could probably (definitely) tell that he was lying.

 

Seokjin hummed lowly before taking Wooyoung’s hands. “You know, Yoongi and I ran circles around each other for 6 years.”

 

Yoongi snorted. “Only six?”

 

Seokjin laughed a little. “More than six. It was always a game of _what if_ s and _but_ s and just so much uncertainty. Both of us were worried about what we could do the group, what we’d do if it didn’t work out, what we’d do if word got _out_ , and.. there was a lot of questioning on our parts. For _six_ years. Can you believe it?” Wooyoung shook his head. But he also wasn’t sure where this was going. “You’re 21, right? I’m 28 and Yoongi is 27. Can you imagine beating around the bush for as long as you turn my age?” Seokjin laughed louder and squeezed Wooyoung’s hand. “And now that we’ve decided to throw caution to the wind, we’re together and it’s just – it’s just so much better.”

 

Wooyoung sighed and pulled his hands away. “This is different.” He looked into the mug of cooling tea. “He’s not in love with me. I appreciate that you’re trying to mend things, but it’s better to cut this off now.”

 

“He is in love with you.” Yoongi leaned back in his seat. Wooyoung frowned at his mug. “I’ve seen him talk to you and about you. He’s in love with you. You should see him now. When he’s not hanging around the outside of your waiting room trying to see if your members will finally get to talk to you, he’s getting shit-faced drunk about how he messed up the best thing in his life.”

 

Wooyoung started. “He’s still trying?”

 

“You didn’t know? Your members are just that damned good, I guess. He’s determined, but so are they. And he doesn’t really want to piss them off.”

 

“He’s already pissed them off.”

 

“Touché.” Yoongi took a sip of his coffee. “The point is, he’s crazy about you. I know it’s hard to believe, when he said Seokjin-hyung’s name after you two fucked-“

 

Wooyoung’s gaze snapped up. “Wait, he _told_ you? He knows?” Wooyoung had thought Taehyung maybe had no idea. And that he just thought he’d done something wrong because Wooyoung had ran away after they’d had sex for the first time and then cut off all contact.

 

“We didn’t mean to pry,” Seokjin said, smiling apologetically. “Taehyung has loose lips when he’s drunk. Lesson number one, Wooyoung, don’t get drunk if you know you ramble when you do. But that isn’t the point. Wooyoung, I just wanted you to know that Taehyung does love you very, very much. I don’t know why he did what he did. I don’t know if he knows. But he’s killing his liver every night, drinking about how he lost the best thing that happened to him.”

 

\--

 

Wooyoung didn’t know why but he ended up unblocking Taehyung’s number from both his phone and KakaoTalk. He sat in his room on the bed, huddled in his blanket. As soon as he unblocked the number, he started getting texts.

 

He didn’t want to open the KakaoTalk room because he knew Taehyung would see that he’d read the messages. But he watched the message previews change. The gist of it was that Taehyung knew Seokjin and Yoongi had called him for dinner. There were a lot of apologies. And ‘I love you’s.

 

Yunho found him crying, huddled within his blanket and clutching his phone. He didn’t say anything but took Wooyoung’s phone from him and unwrapped him from his blanket shield. Yunho was a lot bigger than he was and he could wrap himself around Wooyoung pretty entirely. “Wooyoung,” Yunho said, after a while. “I think you should go to him.” Wooyoung flinched and tried to push Yunho away, but Yunho grabbed Wooyoung tighter. “You know, having this stupid crush on you means that I observed you a lot. I know exactly when you developed your crush on San. And it’s pretty clear to me now how much you love Taehyung now.”

 

“God, Yunho.” Wooyoung buried his face in his hands. “This must fucking suck for you. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how much it sucks for you until I got here.”

 

Yunho laughed, a little sadly. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault, anyway.” Yunho paused, and then shrugged. “I’ve no regrets, though. And I gotta say, it’s kind of nice to have a crush on someone, you know? You get all warm inside. We would’ve been a pretty cute couple. But maybe in another lifetime. You should go to him. Plus, we’re not in the same boat.”

 

Wooyoung sighed and rested his head against Yunho’s shoulder. “Yunho, you know what he did.”

 

“Yeah. I punched him in the face for it.”

 

“What?!” Wooyoung’s eyes widened. “In the – In the _face_?”

 

Yunho shrugged. “He deserved it. He was wearing a mask for a while. Anyway, I demanded to be taken to his place so I could grab your stuff and he drove me there. You know what I saw in the car? The back seat, full of Honey Butter Chips. Your favorite. You know what else? I got to his place and there were more on the couchside table. Where someone who was sitting on the couch, playing games, could just reach over and grab. Also.” Yunho tapped Wooyoung’s nose. “He had photos of you hanging on the wall.”

 

Wooyoung drew back. “On the wall?” He repeated. He could feel his heart racing.

 

“Yeah. Next to the TV.” Yunho shrugged. “I thought they were photos of family or maybe BTS, but they were all you.”

 

\--

 

Wooyoung’s hands shook as he punched in the door code. 1126. It hadn’t changed. The apartment was dim and silent, and after the electronic lock on the door latched with a soft beep, Wooyoung couldn’t hear anything but his heart drumming his chest. He made his way over to the TV.

 

Just like Yunho said, all of the photos were of him. The photo of BTS that he’d seen and were used to were all gone. The photo of Seokjin with the ice cream was gone. They were all instead replaced with photos of either just him, or with photos of him and Taehyung. The place where the photo of Seokjin used to be instead a photo of Wooyoung sound asleep, snuggled into Taehyung on the couch. He took the photo off the wall and realized he was crying only because tears splattered onto the frame.

 

“…Wooyoung?”


End file.
